All That Glitters
by Othellia
Summary: Anna is in the middle of a visit to the Kingdom of Corona when a mysterious blizzard strikes. As the only person with semi-relevant experience, she sets out to find out what - or who - is behind it all. However, there's only one man who seems to hold any answers, and he might be more trouble than he's worth… (Sequel fic, eventual Hanna.)
1. Act One: Part One

**A/N: So this ****is pretty much my brain's response to "how can I make a Hans/Anna fic that actually sticks to both canon events and characterization and have it still _work_?". Yeah. I'm not planning on glossing over Hans' actions from the film in the slightest. It's going to be a fun ride.**

**This has a slight crossover with Tangled, but I'm sure that's nothing new for fandom at this point. Also Elsa will come in after the first act, and I'll add her to the list of tags when she does. Kristoff will also appear (following canon, he and Anna are currently in a relationship), but won't have that much screen time comparatively.**

* * *

"But it'd pretty much burn a hole in your tongue at that point, so after that you need to soak it for another five days-"

"Anna!"

Anna turned to see her cousin rushing towards her through the crowded ballroom. Even without the small tiara, she would've stuck out by the ragged cropping of her brown hair.

"Rapunzel!" Anna cried. The two clasped hands, bouncing in glee. "I'm so sorry! I know I should've found you first, but it was just crazy! The winds stopped not even an hour from shore. Boom. I'm telling you I looked out and the surface was like a lake. Our captain was practically ready to break out the life boats and personally row me to the castle when they finally picked up again. And then by the time we docked, the party was in full swing so-"

"Don't worry, our messengers told us everything." Rapunzel smiled. "You look great by the way. I take it you got ready on the ship?"

"Yep. Hair, makeup, and everything… although I can't help but feel like I smell like seaweed. Do I smell like seaweed? I mean, Renaldo here keeps assuring me I'm fine, but- Oh!"

Anna's hand swept over her mouth in shock as she remembered her up-until-now conversation partner.

"I'm soooo so so sorry!" Anna said, turning to the tall, yet portly man. "This is Relnado, the Lord of… of…"

"Anjou."

"Anjou! And this is my cousin and the Crown Princess of Corona, Rapunzel."

"Your highness," Relnado said, sweeping into a seasoned bow. "I can see you two have a lot to catch up on. It was a pleasure making your acquaintance, Princess Anna."

"Oh, you don't have to…" she trailed off as the older lord already began walking away. "Okay then."

As Anna sighed, Rapunzel gave her an encouraging smile.

"Was I rude?" Anna asked, turning to her cousin once again. "I didn't forget his title on purpose, and I do think the conversation was going rather well. Well, I guess I was doing most the talking. You know, I don't think lutefisk is really a _thing _here."

"You were fine," Rapunzel said. "Okay, I'm not going to lie; there are probably better conversation topics. But overall I just know you're going to be the most amazing junior member of the Arendelle consulate ever!"

Anna couldn't help the smile that crept up the left side of her face.

The two were far from the closest cousins that'd ever walked the earth. In fact, they'd never even met until her sister's coronation, flight, and subsequent return.

A byproduct of their shared…_ sequestered_ childhood.

But after the initial introductions and the whirlwind that'd followed, Rapunzel had quickly invited Anna to visit Corona. Anna had been hesitant at first, clinging to her elder sister with every new second she had. Then, after the first couple months proved that the castle gates were never going to close again, she'd accepted.

It hadn't been until the ship reached the edge of the harbor that Anna had realized it was her first time being outside of Arendelle since she was four years old. And when she finally stepped foot in her cousin's kingdom, her mind had gone into sensory overload.

In a way, it'd never snapped out of it.

For so many years Anna had written herself off as the spare, the sibling destined to skip around the castle for the rest of her life cradling ducks and sliding across waxed floors to pass the time. Not that she didn't _like _cradling ducks and sliding across floors - quite the opposite in fact - but between Elsa ruling the kingdom and Kristoff busy with his ice enterprise, the potential of being able to help out and make a difference for once, her own personal and unique difference, really got her heart pounding.

So she'd talked it over with Kristoff and then had talked it over with Elsa, and one year later here she was, the newest and youngest member of Arendelle's consul to Corona, providing assistance and support to the official Ambassador.

Anna only wished she'd gotten a cool pin or a badge or a medal or something to display as physical proof of her accomplishment, but she supposed the title would have to do.

"Sooo," Rapunzel continued. "How are things in Arendelle?"

"Good, good," Anna said with a smile. "Elsa's really warmed up to whole 'queen' thing. Well, 'warmed up' might not be the best choice of words, but you know what I mean. Kristoff's still caught up in the whole ice delivery reformation thing… Do you guys have ice delivers here? Anyway, it doesn't make that much sense anymore to travel weeks into the mountains to grab ice when Elsa can just - poof! - conjure it of thin air. But she can't make ice for the whole kingdom because then she wouldn't have any time to get queen stuff done, and even if she did then there's all the questions on who gets to sell what ice? Does ice cost less now because it's easier to get? Should the people living in Arendelle itself get an additional discount because it gets created right there in the palace? If it's getting created in the palace, do they even _need_ an ice deliver? Ugh! Personally it gives me a headache just thinking about it."

Rapunzel giggled. "Then I won't ask any further."

"You'd think that having magic powers and stuff would be a cause for cheer," Anna continued, now on a roll. "That people would go, 'Oh, our queen has super awesome magic ice powers? She must be the best queen ever!' Talk about never having to worry about the threat of war!"

Several people turned their heads at the mention of the 'w' word, but Anna pressed on.

"I mean, if I was a random stranger, that's what _I'd_ certainly think. And don't get me wrong, everyone loves the city-wide skating rinks in the summer. But it's like every other single, tiny, little thing, they somehow manage to sink their hands in and wrench it into a bureaucratic nightmare!" Her fingers curled as she mimed out the last part.

"Sounds like you all are doing just fine."

"Yeah… I guess we are. Oh, and how have you and Eugene been doing?"

"Good. Good. Did you know just the other day—"

The two cousins chattered on, inviting people over and waving hello to others as the ebb and flow of the crowd saw fit. Anna excused herself at one point to grab some chocolate cake that'd been rolled out, bumped into her Aunt Primrose - regal and soft-spoken as always, and got swept up into their - now usual - conversation about how Anna was looking more and more like her mother.

"Honestly, I think Elsa looks more like her than I ever did, but thank—"

"Ahem!"

The two women turned to see a rather nervous and harried-looking servant clutching a small strip of paper.

"Yes?" Aunt Primrose asked.

"May I speak to Your Majesty? Alone, please?"

Aunt Primrose frowned.

"Anna, dear," she said, clasping her niece's hands. "Hopefully this should only take a second. Would you mind waiting here?"

"Umm, not at all."

The two swept out through an inconspicuous side door. She stood in place, holding her uneaten piece of cake, as Rapunzel pushed her way through the crowd with Eugene now in tow.

"What happened? I saw Mother just leave."

"I'm not sure… A servant grabbed. I think he was holding some kind of message." Anna frowned. "It must've of been extremely urgent."

"If it is, I hope it's nothing too bad," Rapunzel said. Her face creased with worry.

"Uh… hi, by the way," Eugene said, with a little wave to Anna.

"Oh, yes! Hi, Eugene."

With no light topics springing to mind, the three lapsed into silence. Finally Aunt Primrose re-emerged, her face noticeably paler than it'd been just a few minutes ago.

"Mother!" Rapunzel cried. "What-"

"Not right now," she said with a smile and one eye locked on the sea of guests. "Stay with me. We don't want to cause a scene."

Rapunzel's eyes were wide, but she slowly nodded. Then Aunt Primrose turned to Anna.

"You on the other hand. Peter is waiting in the room beyond that door. I need you to go and listen to what he has to say."

"Anna?" Rapunzel said.

"Me?"

"Yes, you'll understand as soon as you hear it. We'll be back as soon as our absence can go unnoticed."

With a sweep of her arm, Aunt Primrose herded Rapunzel away. Eugene followed with a sympathetic shrug.

Anna was alone once more.

With her cake.

Feeling like she was about to need the energy boost, she gobbled down as much as she could in one go. She placed the rest on a table full of similarly half-eaten dishes, took a deep breath, and walked through the door.

The servant from earlier was nervously pacing the length of a small hallway. The Queen had called him Peter… He glanced up as the door clicked shut behind her.

"Princess Anna?"

She nodded.

"Her majesty said you have some experience in these matters. For all our sakes, I hope this is true."

Before she could respond, he thrust the small strip of paper into her hands. The dim light of the hallway made it a bit difficult at first, but she soon read aloud:

"Disaster and chaos in Wallonia. Unnatural blizzard- Blizzard?!" Her head whipped up only for Peter to gesture for her to keep reading. "Unnatural blizzard has frozen the kingdom. Storm only seems to be spreading. We pray this reaches you in time to prepare."

Anna flipped over the paper, scanning it for any other sort of details or explanation, but that was it.

She looked at Peter again. "Where did you get this?"

"Messenger bird," he said. "Less than half an hour ago. Poor beast looked like it'd been to hell and back. Brought the message straight to her majesty."

"The storm is spreading… They mean it's coming here?"

"We can only assume."

Anna bit her lip, pondering.

"And there's no possible way whoever wrote this meant it as a joke?" she finished hopefully, if a bit lamely.

"Wallonia is one of our closest allies. They would not 'joke' about serious matters such as these."

Anna frowned and reread the few small lines.

"The Queen said you'd experienced this before?" Peter asked.

"Yes. I mean, no. I mean…" Anna took a deep breath. "I've dealt with magical blizzards, sure. But that was less about the actual weather and more with the person behind it all."

"Could there be a person behind this?"

"Perhaps…" Anna said.

If Elsa had managed to hide her powers from the whole world for over twenty years, it was reasonable that someone could be out there with similar powers. That there could be someone just as scared and isolated as she'd been.

"But even then," Anna said. "What can I do?"

"That, my lady, is what we hoped _you'd_ be able to tell _us_."

Anna waited in the suddenly claustrophobic hallway. She waited for her aunt and Rapunzel to return. She waited for some great plan to strike, for her brain to suddenly explode with ideas. She waited for another servant to arrive, this time with a message saying that - despite Peter's opinion - it was indeed just a joke.

And what had been her great plan last time? She'd jumped on the back of a horse and took off in the general direction of the mountains. No preparation, no supplies other than a light cloak… Even Kristoff had scoffed at her so called "plan."

Granted, everything had worked out okay in the end, but that was _after_ she'd almost been eaten by wolves, and Elsa had accidentally frozen her heart, and she'd turned to ice and almost died, and _Elsa_ had almost died…

To be entirely honest, the way she'd made it through those three days had more to do with luck than any great plan or skill on her part. And even though Anna liked to believe that luck was _her_ secret, magical power, even she didn't want to tempt fate that hard. Charging out blindly into this storm was _probably_ not the best solution out there.

At the same time… did she have any other options?

"Okay, can you please tell me what is going on now?" came the sound of her cousin's voice.

Aunt Primrose and Rapunzel made their way through the door seconds later. With no further prompting, Anna passed the message to her cousin who quickly read it and paled.

"A blizzard? In summer?" She glanced up to meet Anna's eyes. "But you've fixed this sort of thing before, right?"

Anna took a deep breath, trying not to scream.

"What happened last time was different," she said. "I was the one who got Elsa mad, who triggered everything. When she ran away, I knew I had to go find her. All the snow and ice… okay, yes, they were important - the whole kingdom nearly froze to death, but at the heart that 'thing' was always just about the two of us. And I wasn't even the one who thawed the ice, Elsa did."

Her aunt looked thoughtful. "Is there anyway Elsa can come here?"

Anna's face lit up temporarily before fading again. "I don't think that would work," she said glumly. "It'd take several days to get a message to Arendelle and then another week for Elsa to actually travel here. And that's assuming the seas stay calm and clear. If a blizzard's coming and it's anything like the ones Arendelle gets, that's far too long to sit around and do nothing."

"Surely it wouldn't hurt to at least send the message though."

"Maybe, but…"

Anna always hated sea travel in less than perfect weather. How could she not be? Her parents… And then to put Elsa at risk…

But did she really have the power to stop Elsa from coming? If they couldn't find a solution, Elsa was the only person in the entire world that might be able put a stop to it. She'd be saving the lives of thousands…

_Far more than you've ever been able to do_, a nasty part of her whispered.

It was worth the risk.

"Alright," Anna said. "We can send a message to her. But we need to do something else in the meantime."

"Well then," her aunt said. "Corona defers to your judgement. What do you think is our best course of action?"

"I… I…"

There were a lot of really terrible things about her last plan. It hadn't even really been a _plan_… It'd nearly gotten everyone _killed_…

But at least it'd been something.

"I need to go to Wallonia and find out where this blizzard came from," Anna said, a new, weak confidence sprouting up beneath each word.

"Just you?" Rapunzel asked.

"Oh, no. Others are definitely welcome to come along!" Anna said. "But you're half right. Even if what happened with my sister isn't exactly the same as what's going on right now, there might be _something_ that overlaps. Maybe I'll see things and connect things that others wouldn't. And if there _is_ a person who's causing this, I can talk to them in a way that no one else can't."

"I can provide guards to accompany you," Aunt Primrose said. "Peter will see that you have plenty of warm clothes and provisions. The border of Wallonia is a two day ride from here, but if this storm is as bad as the message says, it may take longer."

Anna bit her lip. "I should leave tonight then. Are any your guards experienced in navigating winter storms?"

"Not many, I admit," she said. "But we'll find who we can."

"Vladimir is originally from the North," Rapunzel said to her mother. "And maybe Maximus could go with her too. I know he's still recovering from that training incident with the new steel frying pans, but I know he'd be a lot of help. And maybe I—"

"You will stay here," the queen said firmly. "As the Crown Princess, it is your duty to help take care of your people. Once word of this storm breaks, it's going to take everything we have to keep order and keep everyone safe."

Rapunzel sighed. "I suppose you're right," she said. "Just… stay safe, Anna. Okay?"

Anna smiled. "I will," she said. "Just you see. It will be summer again before you know it."


	2. Act One: Part Two

Anna sat tall on Maximus. Her guards huddled against the cold beside her while she gazed out over the coastal plain. Even from her hilltop vantage point, it was hard to make out the precise shape of the coastline in the sea of white. The wind whipped at her frost dusted hair, rubbing raw the small portion of exposed skin around her eyes.

She continued to scan, looking for any signs of life or settlement until…

"There!" she shouted through her scarf, pointing.

The leader of her guards, a brawny man by the name of Thomas, squinted and then nodded.

"Do you know what it is?" she asked.

"I might," he replied. "There are several cities in this region. That one… if I'm judging the size right and we haven't veered too much off course, must be either Stralshagen or Amersdam."

"Friendly?"

"To be sure. Although… who knows after all this."

Anna glanced at the rest of her party. The six of them had set out from Corona nearly five days ago: a princess, four standard castle guards, and a very large, reformed brigand. Anna had gasped at his towering size when he'd first shown up, but Rapunzel had assured her that the man had a heart as dainty and precious as a ceramic unicorn.

Anna had no idea what ceramics had to do with anything, but she went with it.

There was also… a seventh. Kind of.

Rapunzel had told her stories about Maximus, but Anna hadn't believed half of them until it'd been Maximus up in the front of their party, navigating them from village to village. She guessed the horse also counted as a castle guard; apparently he was one of the senior ranking commanders.

The first day of their journey had been pleasantly warm and uneventful.

On the second day, they'd woken up to a fresh dusting of snow on the summer ground and the reality of dealing with _another _magical winter had actually hit her.

The wind and snow had only thickened since then.

By the end of the second day, they'd reached the capital of Wallonia, but its king had only been able to point them in the direction of the northeasterly wind. Anna and her party had set off again the next morning, stopping at every village and tavern they came across, hoping for even the tiniest glimmers of information.

They went from Wallonia to Weideland (with a similar meeting with the royal family there) to the kingdom beyond that…

Anna hadn't lost hope yet. Traveling upwind against the storm was a solid strategy and was how Kristoff had tracked down Elsa, but it definitely had its downsides. Travel grew exponentially more difficult with each passing mile. They frequently had to get off and walk alongside their horses in an attempt to give the animals a poor excuse for a rest.

Anna was exhausted. They all were. This town was the last thing between them and the sea. If the people there were just as clueless as the others had been…

No. The path had led her this far for a reason. She'd find what she was looking for.

Anna peered at the barely visible coastline one more time. Arendelle lay somewhere far beyond its murky depths. Had her aunt and uncle sent a message to Elsa yet? Had it reached her sister, or was its messenger still clinging to the side of a boat as it was tossed by the ocean like a ball of yarn between a cat's paws?

Anna whispered a silent prayer that whoever'd been chosen for the delivery remained safe.

"Princess?" Thomas asked through chattering teeth, clearly awaiting a command. She could tell they were all eager to get off this hill where the wind cut the strongest.

Anna drew herself up as regally as possible despite her many layers of padding. "We'll head towards that town," she said. "Ask for some more food and supplies and any information they might have."

Her companions nodded - her short speech very similar to others she'd given so far - and set off.

As they rode closer, Anna could see that the city was surrounded by a very tall, stone wall. Far from being intimidated, Anna let out a small sigh of relief. The biting wind these days was worse than the actual temperatures at times. Some of the villages they'd passed through had no protection against it, harsh gales cutting through every last gap and seam of the small wooden huts they could find.

At the very least, maybe she'd manage to have a warm roof over her head tonight. Perhaps in the morning she'd even be able to put on boots that hadn't frozen overnight.

A large oak gate barred their entrance from the city. After a brief search, Maximus spotted a small gatekeeper's panel towards the right of the frame and pointed his body directly at it. Anna went to knock, but Thomas insisted that such a lowly task was a guard's duty.

"It's really not—" Anna stopped. She was fine with whatever made him happy and got them inside the town quickest.

He dismounted and rapped his padded knuckles on the gate. The wooden panel slammed back. A pair of squinting brown eyes judged them from the other side of the peephole.

"We're not taking in anymore refugees," a man's voice barked. "You'll have to find shelter elsewhere."

The panel slammed shut.

It only took Thomas a few seconds to recompose himself before he began knocking again, but the gatekeeper was ignoring them now.

Anna shivered.

"I could probably knock whole thing down," came Vladimir's deep, rumbling voice beside her. "This craftsmanship. Very shoddy."

Anna forced a smile. "Thank you, Vladimir," she said. "But I don't think that's the best way to make a first impression."

"I assure you. I will make very deep impression."

"Yes. And I'll keep that suggestion in mind, but let me try one more thing first."

She hopped off Maximus' back and trudged through the snow to where Thomas stood. The guard quickly began apologizing for his failure, but Anna waved him silent. Then she turned her attention towards the gate.

"Hey! Hey! I know you can hear me over there!" she yelled in-between pounds. "We're not refugees, okay? We're on a quest to stop this winter, so could you just—"

The panel slid open. Anna let out a brilliant smile that faded slightly at the wretched glare that answered her.

"Stop this winter? How?"

"Well…"

She suspected the man wasn't the type to be impressed by a simple 'find information' answer. The gatekeeper picked up on her hesitation and moved to slam the panel back yet again, but not before Anna's arm shot out and wedged itself in the hole.

She cried out in pain but kept her arm firmly in place.

"Get your arm out my gate, woman!"

"Not until you listen to what I have to say!"

"Oh, I've listened and it's clear you have nothing. Now go!" he shouted, slamming it again and again on her arm trying to force her to withdraw.

From behind her, Anna could hear the sound of steel being drawn.

Right. Aunt Primrose had made her guards swear a vow to protect her no matter the cost, and now here she was letting her arm get nearly broken by the feel of it.

"Just stop! I know— Ow! My name is— Anna!" she hissed out. "Princess of— Arendelle!"

The gatekeeper stopped.

"Did you say 'Arendelle'?" he asked.

"Ugh… yes."

"As in the kingdom of Arendelle? Up north and all?"

"Yes!" she cried, exasperated. "Why?"

"Why didn't you say that to begin with? They've been talking about Arendelle?"

"…they?"

But the gatekeeper didn't answer, instead shooing her arm out of the panel. Anna turned back to her party, simultaneously shocked and not shocked to see _all_ of them with their weapons drawn. Even Maximus had managed to find a spare sword to grip between his teeth. Holding up her injured arm, in pain but seemingly unbroken, she gestured for them to re-sheath everything.

The sound of ropes and gears creaked behind her and she looked back to see the gates opening at last.

When there was only a horse's worth of space, the gates stopped. A gnarled hand reached out, beckoning them to enter. While it wasn't the grandest of welcomings, it'd do for her. Grabbing Maximus's reins, Anna led the way into the town.

On the other side, the old gatekeeper gestured to a boy and commanded him to man the gate.

"I'll be taking them to the steward's castle," he said.

Anna shivered as they made their way on foot through the city, leading their horses behind them. Of all the places she'd passed through, this one was definitely taking the worst of the storm's blows. Despite the continuous snowfall, the city's streets were packed with people. Her party had to cut themselves a path, the crowd shifting around them like sluggish water as they passed.

Small, makeshift fire pits dotted every sidewalk, with a dozen people or so clustered around each. No one had any proper winter gear, but had instead piled on every single article of clothing they owned. There seemed to be no discrimination: young couples, children, grandparents…

"Why aren't they inside?" Anna asked.

"I told you before. Refugees."

"What? That's inhumane! This is a blizzard! Can't your people share your homes?"

"Inhumane! Don't you judge before you know half the facts! There's half a country's worth of people here and more inside where you can't see them. We cram them all in when the sunsets, but no one can move once we do. They take it in turns. Rotate."

"But…" she paused, taking in the entirety of her surroundings. Every where she looked there were more people, more fires… From somewhere in the distance Anna heard a baby cry out. She flinched. "Where did they come from? Even a snowed-in farm house has to be better than huddling for warmth like this in the streets."

"They didn't come from farm houses," the gatekeeper said. "They're island folk. Fled here from several weeks back and brought this storm of theirs with them. Fools we were to let them in."

"Well, I don't think it's fool— Wait, what? You said they brought the storm with them?"

"They might as well have. It started there before it reached here."

Anna saw Thomas visibly twitch out of the corner of her eye and gave him a quick nod of mutual understanding. The gatekeeper was now calling out in greeting to an old man waving at them from a nearby upper window. Some island refugees stared at their party; Anna didn't know whether to blatantly stare back or ignore them.

"What island did these people come from?" Anna asked. Reminded of their unfinished conversation at the gate, she also added, "And you mentioned someone's been talking about Arendelle?"

"Islands."

"Excuse me?"

"Islands, not island. And they're a bit odd if you ask me," he whispered with a side-eye glance to all the half-starved people surrounding them. "Call themselves South Islanders, only their kingdom is north of here. Don't make no sense, does it?"

A queasy feeling started to wrap its way around her gut.

"The Southern Isles?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's the one."

Anna hands jerked down hard on the reins, causing Maximus to let out a whinny of pain. He snorted in resentment as Anna ran her hand down his neck, whispering soft apologies.

The gatekeeper stopped walking and raised an eyebrow. "I take it you know these people like they know you?"

"I…" she trailed off, conscious of the many eyes and ears around her. "It's a long story."

The gatekeeper didn't continue walking at first, clearly waiting for more explanation, but when it was obvious that Anna wasn't about to give one, he slowly set off again.

"Are you alright, your highness?" Thomas whispered, jogging up alongside her.

After a brief hesitation, Anna nodded. "I'm fine," she said. "It's just… I might have found our first lead."

"That's wonderful! This is exactly what we've been searching for!"

"Not quite," she muttered.

Okay.

So Anna would admit that _just_ because the Southern Isles were involved and _just_ because this gatekeeper had said the storm originated there, that didn't _guarantee_ that a certain regicidal, ginger jerk was behind it all. He very well could be, but it wasn't a foregone conclusion. Perhaps the Southern Isles were just the next domino in a line of besieged kingdoms.

But the coincidence was also too… well… coincidental to ignore.

"What about prisoners?" Anna asked the gatekeeper. "You know, convicted criminals and the like. Are they here too?"

The gatekeeper let out a noncommittal grunt. "They're the worse of the lot if you ask me. Had the majority of them put to work, but they still take more resources than they give back."

"And the royal family?"

"Up in the castle where we're headed. They're the ones that have been talking about you," he said. "Or rather, your kingdom. What's so special about it anyway?"

Since the gatekeeper had no end to his criticism of the Southern Islanders for just bringing the storm with them, Anna wasn't it was the best idea to reveal that her older sister had once conjured a kingdom-wide blizzard of her very own.

"Oh," she finally said. "I guess you could say we're pretty much the top-most experts there are on snow."

It was a lame answer, even to her own ears.

"Whatever," the gatekeeper grumbled. "I don't care what you have up your sleeve, as long as it works."

"I hope so too," Anna whispered to herself.

* * *

"Princess Anna of Arendelle," the servant announced.

"Arendelle?" a man's voice said. "Isn't that—"

Anna swallowed apprehensively as she was ushered into a small but finely furnished room. Six men of varying ages were scattered about it, sitting, standing, lounging… Each one turned to survey her as she entered, and - despite some small variations in precise hue and shade - each shared the same red hair.

"Hello," Anna said simply with a nervous smile and a wave.

There was a silence as stares were exchanged, and then one of the older ones scoffed.

"Fat lot of good she is," he said. "It's the other one we need right now."

Anna's jaw nearly dropped.

"Georg," another one said. "No need to be rude about—"

"He does have a point—"

"—not her fault for being—"

"Lovely to make your acquaintance really," said a particularly handsome one, coming forward to shake her hand.

"Knock it off, Fritz," another groaned. "After Hans, I highly doubt—"

"—only being practical. Nothing rude about—"

"—she's wised up to such advances and—"

"—come all the way here! The least we can do is—"

"Umm…" Anna ventured.

"—really comparing me to _him_?! Of all the—"

"—don't trust a peasant to do a soldier's work, so what difference—"

"—shouldn't have acted that way then if you didn't want—"

"I think—" she tried again.

"—bringing _war_ into this, now are we?"

"—and just because I flirt, doesn't mean I'm about to go _stabbing_ people in the—"

Anna took a deep breath.

"—yes, because if you haven't cared to notice, we might as well be in one with this damn—"

"Everyone be quiet!" she yelled. "_Now!_"

The six brothers turned as one. Anna held her chin up high over their shocked and slightly disoriented faces.

"Thank you," she said, letting out an exasperated breath. "Now that I have your attention, would someone please explain everything they know about how this storm came to the Southern Isles? One at a time!" she quickly added as two brothers started to simultaneously open their mouths. "Please."

All of the brothers glanced at each other, silent battles of power and domination and one-upmanship brewing behind their eyes, before they ceded beneath the one called Georg. He was somewhat portlier than the others and sported an impressive set of well-trimmed mutton chops. His nose was upturned like there was a permanent bad odor hanging underneath.

"There's nothing really to tell," he sniffed. "One morning it was as bright and sunny as any other summer's day, and the next there was frost on the ground. The day after that brought the first snow. When the seas began to pick up, we knew we had to flee. Life is different on an island, you know. Once the seas become too treacherous, there's no chance of aid and no chance to change your mind… So we took our chances and here we are."

"That's it?" Anna asked.

"That's it."

Anna bit her lip, pondering.

"Okay," she said. "But what about where the storm came from? Do you think it started in the Southern Isles or did it spread from somewhere else? What about Hans? If he did something-"

"With all due respect, your highness, it's your sister with the powers, not our brother."

"I know, but-"

"You're welcome to talk to him if you honestly think he knows something," said another brother. A bushy mustache threatened to swallow the rest of his face. "But I highly doubt it. Before you protest, I know what he did to you and your sister - and for that we can never apologize enough, but he's been under lock and key for the past two years. I'm sure you remember our letter? Well, I can tell you, the first time he even set _foot_ outside his bedroom was during the evacuation."

A couple of the other brothers nodded noncommittally.

Anna was forced to internally admit there wasn't too much a person could do when confined to a single room… although she personally thought a full-on prison cell would've limited those possibilities all the better. Still, she wouldn't trust Hans even if Saint Nicholas himself put him on the nice list for the next fifteen years running.

"I think I _would_ like to talk to him," Anna said looking at one of the older brothers - who looked sympathetic - and attempting to ignore one of the pasty, well, middle-of-the-pack ones - who was currently rolling his eyes.

"Your waste of time," Georg said. "Not ours."

"Hans is currently in one of the side rooms off the east wing," said one of the friendlier ones, a gangly young man with a crane-like nose. "I can escort you there if you wish."

"Thank you. That would be—" Anna paused, realizing the word 'wonderful' didn't exactly apply in this circumstance, "—most appreciated."

Anna took his arm when he offered it and let him lead her from the room. She tried not to let her thoughts linger on the couple snorts of derision that followed them out.


	3. Act One: Part Three

The man was sitting on a small chair in the center of a sparsely furnished, depressingly grey tower cell. His back was towards them, and he made no effort to move as the door creaked open.

"Hans?"

"For the last _time, _Leon!" he snapped, turning around. "I don't want to—"

The youngest prince of the Southern Isles froze as he looked past his brother to lock gazes with her.

Hans' eyebrow lifted, his entire demeanor instantly cooling. "What is she doing here?" he asked.

Leon coughed. "She said she wants to help."

"By doing… what, exactly?"

"Ha. Georg said the same thing when he saw her."

"Well, of course Georg would say the—"

"Ahem!" Anna said. She sensed the inter-brother chatter would be a reoccurring annoyance if she didn't speak up for herself more. "I am here, you know."

"Then talk," Hans said. "Anyways, Leon, I've been meaning to tell you. The draft in here right before dawn is simply dreadful. I'm starting to think that the wind is switching directions because it's—"

"I was wondering what you know about this storm," Anna said. She suppressed the need to scream "shut up and listen to me!" like a petulant child.

Hans flicked her a disinterested glance.

"Other than the fact that's it's damn cold? Not much."

"Did you cause it?"

"That's a rather direct accusation."

"That's not an answer."

His lips twisted into a smirk as he took the time to hook a nearby stool with his toe, drag it over, and prop his boots up before replying, "I didn't cause this. Your sister's the one with the ice powers, not me."

Leon chuckled. "You know, Otto said the same—"

"Neither of us care which brother already said the same thing!" Anna snapped.

Her outburst seemed to surprise the two brothers. Anna took advantage of their splintered focus to finally retake control of the conversation.

"Now," she said. "Leon. I would like to talk to Hans. Alone. Could you please wait outside until we are done?"

Leon looked uneasy, glancing back and forth between his brother and the door. "Are you sure that's the best—"

"Yes. It is. Are you suggesting that I'll be in any danger?"

"No, but—"

"Then what's the problem?"

"Nothing! Just… Are you sure you aren't…"

Leon coughed.

"Aren't what?" Anna pushed.

"Umm…"

The unspoken elephant crammed into the tiny room was clearly "are you sure you aren't afraid of the man who left you to die and then actively tried to murder your sister so he could usurp your kingdom's throne?", but Leon seemed desperate to avoid directly mentioning it at all cost.

Truth be told, Anna _was_ a little frightened. However, she also needed to talk to Hans, and he obviously wasn't taking her seriously while Leon was still there. (Not that it was guaranteed he'd take her seriously if Leon _wasn't_ there, but it was worth a shot.)

"If you have nothing else to object to," Anna continued. "I'd appreciate it if you left us."

With one last stuttering, unfinished thought tumbling out of his mouth, Leon backed away. She watched the door swing shut behind him with a soft click.

"He did have a point, you know," came Hans' voice. "I could have a concealed weapon. And the human body does bleed out so quickly."

Anna took a deep breath and turned back to face him.

"Even so," she said. "You have nothing to gain by my death, except revenge. And if you do kill me, then what? Your family went easy on you after your attempted murders, but if you went through with an actual one? Even they wouldn't be able to spare you from the wrath of my sister. Oh, I can see you wanting revenge, but not at that price."

Hans stared at her.

Silence crept over the two of them, and then he threw his head back and laughed. The low, rich sound echoed in the small, stone room, raising the hairs on the back of Anna's neck. She fought the urge to pat them back down again.

His laughter died into chuckles as he shook his head.

"I think that was the most intelligent thing I've ever heard you say. Did you prepare all that ahead of time or have you actually gotten somewhat smarter in our time apart? Never mind, don't answer that. I'm not really interested either way. But where are my manners? Come," he said. "Make yourself at home. I'd offer you some wine and refreshments, but you can see my current accommodations aren't quite up to… royal standards."

Anna scowled. "They'd be even lower if I had any say in it."

"Of course," he said with a smirk that made Anna want to punch him in the nose all over again. It'd been two years ago, and Anna felt like such a time gap warranted another.

"Let's cut to the chase, Hans. What do you know about this blizzard?"

"Again with the blizzard." He sighed. "I told you. I don't know anything. I can tell you don't believe me, but, with God as my witness, I'm just as surprised by all of this as you are."

Anna bit her lip in frustration and resisted the urge to start pacing. She settled with crossing her arms and tapping her foot every now and again.

If he was telling the truth, then pushing the issue wasn't going to go anywhere. And even if he did _know_ something, yelling the same question at him over and over again wasn't going to convince him to start cooperating either.

"What do you want?" Anna suddenly asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You've never done something unless you wanted something, so what is it this time?"

"Not following you. Do you really think I'm masterminding some sort of kingdom-wide hostage situation?" Hans rolled his eyes in exasperation. "How many times do I have to tell you before it penetrates your thick skull? I haven't done anything."

"I know, I know!" Anna paused. "Okay, well, you're right; I still don't believe you. But putting that aside for now, you're telling me you're perfectly happy as you are right now? Locked up in this room? You wouldn't change a thing?"

"What are you getting at?"

"What I'm 'getting at' is that you always have a plan. And don't give me that 'I'm just as surprised as you' thing again," she added as he open his mouth for a whole new stream of protests. Anna took a deep breath. "You were equally surprised when my sister first revealed her powers, but that didn't stop you from instantly scheming new ways to take advantage of it."

"You know, the word _'scheming'_ has this very inelegant—"

"Don't care. As I was saying, even if you go on and on about how you know nothing about this blizzard's origins, don't insult me by pretending that you _don't_ have some devious new plan brewing in that twisted little mind of yours."

Hans frowned. "I object to your use of 'little'."

"Objection noted."

He didn't immediately reply, choosing to stare, unmoving at Anna. Anna held her ground and stared back.

All things considered, it was a rather equal stare-off. Anna had never been much of a good starer, tending to burst out with laughter after holding eye contact too long. Even now, the corner of her mouth threatened to twitch. Hans seemed much more competent, although any skills he possessed were partly undermined by his current imprisonment.

Finally Hans sighed and pushed the stool that he'd been propping his boots on towards Anna.

"Fine," he said. "You might want to take a seat though."

Anna glanced at the stool, then to his boots (which admittedly looked pretty clean), and then back to the stool.

"I think I'll stand," she said flatly.

He shrugged, as though she was the strange one for rejecting his oh-so-courteous offer.

"Alright. So I might know something after all. Not about where this storm came from," he added before Anna could burst out in gleeful accusation. "But possibly how to end it."

"Your brothers didn't say anything about this. I assume you haven't told them?"

"It was never relevant," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Not relevant?" Anna said in disbelief. She crossed her arms. "I'm not sure I can think of a situation where it'd be _more_ relevant."

"Let me specify that. 'Never relevant' until now."

"Wait. What's so different about—" she paused, a candle flickering to life in her brain. "Are you talking about me? What have I got to do with any of this?"

"Patience. I'm getting there. Now, I'm sure you know I've been under house arrest for the past two years. You can't possibly imagine what it's like." He paused. "Although… you did pathetically drone on and on about being trapped in your castle growing up, so perhaps you do. Still. Being locked up like I was, there was very little to entertain me outside of reading, so read I did."

"Are you trying to say that during your reading adventures you just _happened_ to come across some magic book with all the answers to… this?" Anna asked, sweeping her hand in a low arc.

"No, not at all. That kind of coincidence would be absurd." Hans said with a dismissive shrug. He looked her dead in the eye and then slowly grinned. "I actively searched for one. Oh, don't give me that look," he said before Anna say anything. "If all your carefully planned hopes and dreams had been tragically dashed because one neurotic girl flash-froze her kingdom, you'd become slightly obsessed about those kind of magical occurrences too."

Anna chose not to comment on his description of Elsa and tried to focus on what he'd just confessed.

"Okay, so you found some magical spell or something?"

"The location of a magical artifact."

"The location of a 'magical artifact.' Where do I come in?"

"The artifact is in a secret cave, protected by an enchantment."

"Not surprising."

"And the only way to break the enchantment is with the combined power of two separate royal bloodlines. Of course… I found all of this in a book of legends, so the cave might not even exist."

"My cousin was born with magic hair that could heal people, and you already know the deal with my sister," Anna said. "The fact that all this information supposedly comes from an old magic book is kind of at the bottom of my list of concerns right now."

"Alright then." Hans leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. "What are your concerns?"

"Well, for starters? You could be lying about this book. You could be lying about this cave. You could be lying about this supposed 'enchantment.' This could all be some evil plot to escape your brothers and then murder me while we're out in the wilderness."

"Then bring along an escort."

Somehow that didn't assuage _any_ of her fears.

"You still haven't exactly said why I'm so special," Anna said, backing up a step, trying to poke holes in any of his logic she could find. "I'm not the only royal girl in existence."

"No, you aren't. But you _are_ the only one currently here. Imagine my disappointment when we arrived in this miserable city and I found out that the 'ruler' of this kingdom is a mere steward." He scoffed. "Trust me, you would not have been my first pick for this mission either."

"Too much bad blood between?"

"No. Just that, if I'm to risk my own neck, I'd rather work with someone far more capable."

Anna drew in a deep breath but refused to give him the satisfaction of her rage. She settled for pacing the small length of the room.

"Okay, then," she said. "I might be needed, but you're not. Send one of your brothers. By your own words, it should work just as well with them, shouldn't it?"

"Oh, Anna. I thought you knew me better than that. You honestly expect me to remain locked up in here while one of them goes out and reaps all the glory?"

She stopped pacing and stared at him.

"Your people are dying."

"Everyone is dying. I'll die as well, winter or not, rotting away here, imprisoned. I need the chance to prove myself."

Anna kept staring him. How dare he have the audacity to smile. To sit and bargain as the wind howled outside. As the cold claimed more each day…

"Oh, you're proving yourself _just fine_ right now," she spat.

Hans said nothing as Anna stomped out of room, yanking shut the ancient door behind her. Instead of creating a satisfying slam, the thick slab of solid oak lost speed halfway through and gently nudged to a stop, depriving her of even _that_ small pleasure.

"So… how did it go?" asked Leon cautiously, unfolding himself from where he'd been huddled against the opposite wall.

"How much has your brother read over the past two years?" Anna snapped.

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. Your brother. Books. How many did he go through?"

"I don't know… Lots? I mean, he didn't really have much else to do. We gave him whole stacks. None of us really counted. Why?"

Anna took a deep breath. "He _says_ he's read about some magic artifact that can stop this weather."

"A magic whatnow?"

"I know. Crazy, right? But the thing is maybe he _is_ telling the truth. I don't want to trust him, but I don't really know what else to do at this point, and if he does…"

"Hmm…" Leon tapped his chin. "If he read it from our library," he said. "He'd be the only one. Not many of us are big readers. Erich used to hang out there a lot, but no one knows where he is now. And Karl was always addicted to the place, but he looked down on anything that wasn't hard science and anyone who wasn't just as devoted to it as he was. Insufferable little git. Packed him off to Rome years ago and haven't seen him since."

"So you're saying Hans could be telling the truth."

"I'm saying there's no way to prove he isn't, so… yes. He could be," Leon said. "Though he could also just be trying to escape."

"That's what I thought!"

"But why did he suddenly tell _you_ this? Okay, so I guess none of us ever outright _asked_ him if he knew of some solution, but it seems absurdly petulant that he'd keep it all a secret until now."

"He said it's protected by some sort of enchantment. Needs people from two different royal families to break it or something. So yeah, that's where I come in. Look," Anna said. "Why don't you go in there and talk to him, get the full details? I'll, I don't know, tell the rest of your brothers. Maybe the twelve of you can get him to spill what he knows and then one of you can come on this journey with me instead."

"So you're already decided?"

Anna shrugged.

"A magical blizzard strikes; I trek across three separate, clueless kingdoms only to end up here; I meet the one person with any prior experience _and_ involvement with this stuff; and he tells me he knows of a way to end it. What's left to decide?"

* * *

As fate would have it, Hans' brothers were useless at interrogation.

Anna suspected at least half hadn't even tried, convinced that Hans was only telling tall tales in the hopes of getting attention. Several of the others apparently had better things to do, like the pair of twins whose idea of helping out had been questioning Hans for a grand total of two minutes before returning to their informal wood chopping duties.

She'd gotten a bit hopeful after managing to corner the current king of the Southern Isles, but while King Philipp believed his youngest brother was telling the truth about the book, he didn't have any faith about the legend within. His red hair was greying around the temples and his shoulders sagged with the exhaustion of an entire kingdom. Anna tried bringing up trolls and magic and snowmen and flowers, but her arguments fell on deaf ears.

Of the ten older princes currently in the city, only two — Leon and an squat, no-frills brother named Otto — actually believed in Hans' full plan and, unfortunately, they were the least skilled when it came to prying information. They uncovered that the cave was somewhere south, at least a five day's ride from Stralshagen, and that was it.

No specific location.

No specific directions.

No nothing.

"We'd love to help further, but it seems like you're going to be stuck with him," Otto told Anna after dinner. He and Leon sat in the castle's west drawing room as she paced the length of the fireplace.

Anna stopped her pacing.

"Wait, what? How can you just give up like that?" Anna demanded. "How can you tell me to just go with him? Hans would rather let his own people freeze to death than be excluded from his stupid, personal quest for glory! That's… that's worse than conniving! It's downright heartless! He's an egotistical, selfish… Argh! There's no way I'm just standing aside and letting him get his way, and if that means not going at all—"

"Then you'd be no better than him," Otto finished.

"We'll send our own soldiers to accompany you," Leon said. "An entire platoon."

"Don't be silly, Leon. The girl doesn't need _that_ many. Besides if this daft mission is to work at all, the swifter the party and less mouths to feed the better."

"Thanks for the offer, but I already have some guards who've travelled with me since Corona."

They were also guards that she could trust. While Anna didn't doubt the loyalty and honor of the other Southern Islanders, if she was going to have to deal with a honey-laced tongue like Hans', she wanted the deck stacked on her side as much as possible.

"Maybe it's better this way," Leon ventured. "Even if we'd gotten Hans to give up his information, who would've taken his place?"

Anna paused, confused. "One of you, of course."

Otto laughed. "A man of my age and health? I'd expire before we reached the edge of this kingdom, let alone some cave tucked away into the mountains."

"Okaaay, but what about you, Leon?" she said, turning to the other prince. "You seem strong and healthy. And you seemed up for it when I first mentioned one of you possibly taking Hans' place."

There was an awkward pause. Leon didn't meet Anna's gaze, diverting his attention towards the fireplace, and then at Otto, and then back to the fireplace.

"Yes, well. That was when… You see, there were ten of us, so I thought you'd be able to find _someone_. And before I knew it'd be such a long way away."

As much as she hated not having any information, Anna was starting to wish that Hans had kept completely quiet. The lucrative distance had only served to increase his brothers' doubts about the mission.

And cowardice, it seemed.

"I see," Anna said icily.

She glanced from Leon to Otto, each prince struggling to maintain an air of good-natured helplessness.

"Well, if that's all," she continued. "I have a lot I need to do to get ready. The steward has invited me to stay the night. After that, I ride at dawn."

"Princess!" Otto cried as Anna began to exit the room. She paused, twisting her head to let him know he had her attention. "I do hope you understand. We are on your side. Truly."

"Oh," she said. "I understand perfectly."

* * *

On her way back to her chambers, Anna found herself wandering down the corridor that led past Hans' room. She let her footsteps slow, treading softly as she approached the large, padlocked door.

She stopped completely as she drew even with it. She hesitated, wondering if it was even worth it, wondering if he'd even be able hear her through the thick door.

Then she knocked, the sound quiet yet distinctive.

"Hans?" she said tentatively. "Of all your brothers, I still hold that you are by far the worst. But…" She thought of the long, cold journey ahead of her. "That's not really saying much."

Even if he _had_ heard her, Anna walked away before he could have the chance to respond.


	4. Act One: Part Four

**A/N: Thank you to the people who've reviewed so far. They're very appreciated. :)**

* * *

"Then man says, 'Thank you, Doctor. But have you no medicine other than vodka?'"

Anna burst out laughing. The other soldiers in her guard chuckled around the flickering light of the campfire, caught awkwardly between not understanding the joke and not wanting to offend the largest, most-hulking member of their party.

It'd been two days since they'd left Stralshagen. A kind farmer had let them camp in his barn for the night, and they'd managed to make themselves rather cozy despite the snow outside.

Anna had hoped that by heading south the storm would've lightened up a bit, but they seemed to be stuck in the dead middle of it now no matter which direction they headed. The wind was slightly in their favor, pushing them forward instead of back, but that was about the extent of their luck.

Although speaking of luck…

Anna leaned back and stared up at the rafters of the barn. She had no idea how much longer these sort of luxuries would last. Hans' map - or at least the vague directions he'd reluctantly divulged so far - would be leading them straight into the mountains soon.

The main object of their destination remained a mystery as well. Anna had tried to worm details out of the prince several times now with mild success. Apparently the "artifact" was some kind of glowing stone. The description seemed to satisfy the rest of her party for the time being, but not her.

He had to be hiding something still. She just… _felt_ it.

There was a metallic clink from the corner. Anna glanced over to see the "hero" of this whole delusional crusade, his manacles twisted due to the haughty, cross-armed position he was trying to maintain as he sulked under the not-so-careful watch of his current guard. It'd quickly become a rotating duty that the men in her party now bartered chores to avoid doing.

"Now, Princess," came the deep, rumbly voice of Vladimir. "You tell joke."

"Oh! Me?" Anna said, snapping back to attention. Everyone's eyes were focused on her, and she blushed. "Umm… Haha, talk about being put on the spot! Okay, I've got one! So there's this ice harvester and he's the leader of his whole local ice harvesting operation thing. One of the new guys doesn't have a hat, so his ears get super cold. I'm talking frostbite levels cold. So the main ice harvester gives the new guy the warmest hat he has, and for awhile he feels really happy about it. You know, doing this good deed for one of his fellow workers. But soon the harvester notices the new guy isn't wearing his hat. He's confused since the guy seems as cold as ever, so he asks him why he isn't wearing it anymore. And the guy says—"

"Someone offered him lunch but he couldn't hear it because of the hat," Hans finished.

The whole party groaned. Anna shot Hans a dirty look. He returned it with a smirk and a shrug.

"What?" he said casually. "That's what happens when you pick such a common, stale joke."

"I swear," muttered a grey-haired guard. Rogir. "When he's not complaining, he's inventing completely new ways to be irritating."

"Well…" another guard, Caldwell, said as he glanced at the prince. "Since his mouth is the worst bit about him… we could always just gag him." The young man kept his face as innocent as possible, like he hadn't just suggested manhandling royalty.

All of them looked at each other before turning to Anna. She was the fellow royal and leader of the expedition.

To be quite honest, it _was_ tempting… but she personally liked to think she was above such petty—

"You wouldn't dare," Hans said.

—and his fate was sealed.

"Could someone hand me a strip of cloth?" Anna asked with a sweet smile.

Her request was granted instantaneously.

She waltzed over to Hans. He attempted to stand as she approached, scowling in all his indignant pride, but was quickly yanked back down by his current guard.

"You'll regret this," Hans spat out.

"That a threat? Coming from the man in chains?"

"You and I both know I won't be in chains forever. Do this and I'll swear I'll…"

He trailed off as Anna leaned in close, gently cupping his chin and raising it until his eyes met her own. They stayed like that for several moments, Anna taking in every crystalline facet of his perfect face. Then she smiled.

"Oh, Hans," she said, slamming the makeshift gag through his teeth and quickly knotting it in the back. "If only there was someone out there who cared."

* * *

Life became so pleasant without Hans' constant snide commentary that the gag stayed on for the rest of the night and most of the next morning.

As their horses plodded forward with Maximus in the lead, Anna occasionally glanced back to see the young prince glaring at her from the back of their train. She was always sure to return his muffled scowls with a cheerful smile.

Alas, all good things inevitably came to an end.

It was slightly past noon when they reached the last of their given directions and were forced to ask Hans for the next set. After a brief elimination game, Vladimir was chosen to remove the gag. Hans coughed and spluttered for a good half minute and then sulked in silence, refusing to talk.

It was all very good and dramatic, but Anna was too tired from the journey to deal with his spoiled antics. Snow continued to fall, and her fingers had grown numb beneath her woolen gloves long ago.

"You know, for someone obsessed with constantly being the 'hero,' you're not even _close_ to acting heroic right now," she said. "Even if you manage to help us bring summer back, we're only going to tell everyone how much of a whining baby you were about it."

"I have not been—!" He paused as he seemed to realize he was playing straight into Anna's comments, his pride quickly overtaking whatever personal slights he might have felt.

Instead they were left with silence again. Anna crossed her arms, waiting, but - whether it was out of stubbornness or contemplation - Hans didn't say a word.

Sitron pawed the snow beneath his rider, and Anna had to force herself from sighing in exasperation. Even imprisoned, the poor prince had been allowed to keep his precious horse-y worse-y. The more Anna continued to learn about Hans' punishment over the past two years, the more she found it a joke.

Not that room confinement was a walk in the park, but the sentence definitely lost its edge when said room was in a palace. True, now that she was on first name terms with Hans' brothers, Anna admitted that having to deal with them on a daily could _possibly_ count as mild torture... but still. Palace.

They hadn't hadn't even moved him out of his usual room! It wasn't like the Southern Isles were lacking in prime dungeon real estate.

Okay.

Once again Anna had to grant the brothers some credit. Apparently Hans _had_ been imprisoned in their dungeons for a grand total of one month… but one month! God! She'd been grounded as a kid for longer than that!

If Elsa had known about the arrangement, she probably would've kept him in the Arendelle dungeons, politics and diplomatic immunity be damned.

"We need to go south southeast for another half league until we reach a lakeshore," Hans finally said. "We'll follow that lakeshore until we reach its western point, and then ride another three leagues until we reach the entrance of an abandoned mining tunnel. That should take us all the way through to the other side of the mountain ridge."

Anna snorted at that.

"Yes?" he drawled.

"Nothing," Anna said. "Just marveling at how a common miner's tunnel managed to get itself included on an oh-so-ancient and secret map."

Hans sniffed, drawing himself up. "I may have made some alterations based on the current state of the area, but-"

"Alterations? So you planned for all of this?"

"No! How many times I do I have to—?!" He paused again to collect himself. "I've been under house arrest," he said. "For two years. I came across an ancient, secret map that led to an ancient, secret cave. I thought it was interesting. I don't know who _wouldn't_ think it was interesting. So I compared that map to other more recent maps. Why is that so hard to believe?!"

"Coming from you? Gee, I _wonder_."

"Princess," Thomas said from her right. "He's not worth your frustration. We should move on."

Despite the insult, Hans simply grinned and inclined his head in the direction he'd pointed out as though to say 'after you.'

Anna tried to reclaim her cheerful facade but her smile quickly dissolved into a scowl. She spurred Maximus forward, and the rest of the party fell quickly inline behind her.

* * *

They found Hans' tunnel sure as ever, but not even he knew how long it'd take them to pass through to the other side. Thomas and the others held a small debate over whether it was safer to camp at the entrance for the night or press on until Anna reminded them that time wasn't exactly on their side.

Maximus had no difficulties entering the tunnel and the other horses seemed to be comfortable enough following him. They allowed themselves to be slowly led, one by one, into the far-reaching blackness. The guards lit a couple torches, but their light only penetrated so far. Anna couldn't help but keep a continuous watch on Hans, sure that the prince would attempt to use the confined quarters and low visibility to his advantage. But to her relief — and small annoyance — he didn't try a thing.

After several uneventful hours, their party reached the tunnel's exit just in time to see the sun begin to set behind another distant ridge. With night fast approaching, they made an unanimous decision to set up camp inside the tunnel.

Not able to stand Hans' presence for a minute longer, Anna volunteered to help collect firewood with another one of the younger guards as the rest hunted for dinner and got the camp ready.

The storm hadn't managed to pass over the mountains yet, and Anna reveled in the feel of bare grass and crunching pine cones beneath her boots even if she couldn't fully see them in the darkness.

By the time Vladimir returned with a fistful of dead rabbits, their party already had a decent sleeping area laid out and a more than decent fire roaring.

"It'll be a fine thing when all this is over," Rogir said, gesturing to the tunnel's exit. They were quite a ways away from its mouth, but every now and again a stiff chill would force its way in, causing them to shudder as one.

"Yes," said Thomas. "It definitely will."

They ate their rabbits in silence.

Anna picked at a bit of gristle as the flames crackled. _When all this is over…_ The assumption of 'when' over 'if' weighed heavily on her mind. She suspected it weighed on the others too.

As much as Anna hated acknowledging it, as much as she'd try to wipe the thought from her memory later… Hans really was their only hope right now.

"What none of this answers though—" said Caldwell. "I mean, once we get the stone and bring back summer, we still won't know where this storm came from. Or what it came from."

"In Russia," Vladimir rumbled. "Gods get angry. Curse land."

Rogir shook his head. "You don't need gods these days to get a curse."

"But why curse every kingdom?" Caldwell asked. "And if some evil sorceror is behind it, why haven't they come forth with any demands. There's no reason. My bet's on some freak astrological occurrence. Planets crossing and all that."

"I still think it's a person. If the Princess Rapunzel and Queen Elsa could have magical powers, then who's to say that others can't?"

Something itched at the back of Anna's mind, tugging on some disconcerting feeling and wisp of a memory. She tried to shake it, but it only grew stronger.

"What do you think it is?" Anna said, abruptly turning to Hans.

It took him awhile to realize that she was talking to him.

"Me?" He raised an eyebrow. "I thought I wasn't allowed to speak."

Anna knew he was mocking her, but she played along. "I'm granting you permission, just this once."

"My lady honors me," he said, dipping his head in an informal bow. "What can I say though? I know just as little as all of you."

"So you've said. But that's why we're all guessing." She scrunched her nose. "Besides, what makes you so sure that this stone of yours will fix everything if you have no idea what's causing the storm?"

"I never said I was sure it world."

"And yet here you are risking your life with the rest of us."

He shrugged. "Everyone's life is at risk. If anything, it's probably safer here with you than back in Stralshagen where the storm is the strongest."

"Princess Anna…" Thomas said. "It's no use to—"

"Not now," Anna said.

He was going to tell her to ignore the prince, to drop it. But Anna didn't want to drop it. Pretending like Hans' actually had someone else's best interests at heart and that everything would turn out fine if they just followed him… Hans had been keeping information from them this whole trip. Was continuing to keep information from them.

And when that put everyone's life at risk, pretending wasn't good enough for her.

"Well," Anna said with a sniff. "I don't know if I want to go any further if our guide is really so _clueless_ about our destination."

"I never said I was clueless," Hans muttered.

"Um, yeah. You did."

"Just because I choose to keep my knowledge to myself, doesn't mean that I don't possess it."

"Says a person with no knowledge to begin with."

Hans seemed to struggle for some sort of comeback before falling into a grumbling silence.

Anna fought back a smug grin. She seemed to be getting better at roping the prince into unwinnable arguments.

"Fine," he said, his manacles rattling slightly as he readjusted himself. "The stone supposedly nullifies all effects of magic. That's why I think it will be effective at stopping the storm."

"All effects of…" Anna mind slowly kicked into gear. "You wanted to use this stone on my sister, didn't you!" she exclaimed. She let out a noise of disgust. "_That's_ why you spent so much time researching those books and memorizing all these directions in your head!"

"I can't deny that the thought never crossed my mind," he said with an innocent smirk. "But of course that's all irrelevant now."

"Like _hell_ it isn't! I—"

Anna paused mid-rant as Thomas tapped her on the shoulder. He looked mildly contrite for interrupting a member of the royal family, but resolute in his decision in having done so.

"Princess," he whispered. "A word in private. Please."

Anna shot Hans a glare. His smirk had taken a far more devilish twist, and she bit back a foul-mouthed retort that would have made Eugene grin and Rapunzel blush.

"Fine," she muttered reluctantly.

She followed Thomas deeper into the tunnel. They remained within sight of the main group and campfire but were out of earshot.

"The man is taunting you. Saying these things only so you upset yourself."

"Oh. You _think_?"

"Then surely you should know better to engage him."

"You think I want to? I don't have a choice! He holds all the information! I don't see anyone _else_ trying to pry it out of him. I mean, I've gathered that you're all fine going into this completely blind, but come on! You just heard what he said about the true effects of this stone! Do you have any idea what kind of trouble he could cause with that?!"

"I understand your concern, Princess," Thomas said. "But do remember that there are six of us and one of him. On top of that, he is currently chained and will continue to be so for the rest of our mission. We are more than capable of handling him."

"I know. I know…"

Anna glanced at Hans. Thomas was right; he was completely outnumbered and completely out-armed. By any account he should've been harmless… and yet there was an unsettling trepidation that wouldn't shake away from her gut.

Maybe she was being paranoid.

Maybe there'd been something wrong with that rabbit meat.

"Just promise me that you won't let your hate overrule your better judgement," Thomas said. "He'll find a way to use your own emotions against you."

The guard's words struck a nasty chord within her as memories long past and buried bubbling up: the two of them sliding, giggling and breathless, down the wooden polished length of the north hall; the feel of his arms as he held her and twirled her around a floor of dancers; the pounding of her heart blocking out all other sounds as he knelt before her on one knee, gazing up at her, his face pure and earnest and… devious and plotting and—!

Anna fought back a primal scream and banished the memories straight back to the nastier little pit of her mind. They'd been the worse right after it'd all happened, getting slowly easier to forget as the months and years started to pass. Even so, there were nights where she woke up wanting to rip apart her pillows.

Maybe when she returned home she'd finally convince Kristoff's adopted family to get rid of those memories for good. They didn't like using their powers when it wasn't necessary, but she make them see the reason in this.

Anna looked over at where Hans was currently sitting and shuddered.

"Believe me," she said to Thomas. "He will never use me like that again."

* * *

The morning came all too soon.

Anna protested and stretched and did everything possible to catch just a couple more seconds of blessed darkness, and then she was up. Even with their party moving as lightly and swiftly as possible, there were still chores to be done: mats and tarps to put away, essentials to account for. At least they seemed to be getting a little faster at it every day.

And then there was—

"Are you lot still not ready? The storm's going to catch right back up to us at this rate."

Hans' voice echoed against the sides of the tunnel, grating against the back of Anna's skin.

He was just standing near the tunnel's mouth, next to Sitron and one of the other half-loaded horses. He was just standing there. Complaining. As the rest of them did all the work.

It was the last straw.

Maximus snorted beside her, fire in his eyes. Anna patted him on the muzzle.

"Don't worry," she said, soothing him. "I got this."

She marched over to Hans, Thomas' earlier warning be damned. She put her hands on her hips and glared straight up at him. He stared back cooly.

"Since you're not helping us pack," she said matter-of-factly. "You have no right to complain."

"Your problem. Not mine," he said, waving his manacled wrists in her face.

"Like we would really unchain you for that."

"Your problem," he said again. "Not mine."

"You know what?! I have had it up to _here_ with you!" Anna yelled, jabbing at a random point above her head in emphasis. "All you've done since you've come on this mission is complain. Complain. Complain! _Complain!_ Tell me this. Does this cave of your require the royal blood to be fresh?! Because I'm seriously thinking about slicing open a vein of yours and letting you sit here in this cave while the rest of us press on and actually get stuff done! You want to know _why_ two of your brothers pretended that you didn't exist for years and years? Well, I can tell you why and it's certainly not a case of poor little Hans versus the big, bad—"

Anna paused.

Had she just felt…?

"Run out of steam?" Hans asked.

"Ssh!" she hissed, cutting him off with a wave of her hands.

She focused. Perhaps it'd only been her imagination.

Then she felt them again. Faint vibrations.

Her eyes widened a split second before the tunnel started to shake. From all around came the grinding sound of rocks being dislodged. Anna barely had time to gasp, let alone scream before the roof caved in above her.


	5. Act One: Part Five

**A/N: This chapter got a bit longer than expected, but I suppose that's only a good thing for everyone reading. Hope you all are enjoying. Lots of dialogue in this one. I love writing dialogue so yay.**

**Also thanks once again to the people who've reviewed! It means a lot!**

* * *

Anna coughed as the cave filled with blindingly thick dust clouds. Every couple of seconds she heard stray pebbles clatter against the ground. As she slowly regained her senses, she could make out the sound of another man — Hans? — coughing nearby.

"What- what the hell was that?!" Anna managed to choke out.

"Earthquake. Obviously."

Yep. Definitely Hans.

"_Obviously_," she said. As the dust started to clear, a shape emerged to her right, fuzzy at first, but quickly gaining the telltale features of the red-haired prince. "What I meant was, where did it come from?"

"The entire kingdom… no, the entire _continent_ has had all its normal weather patterns turned on their heads and you're wondering why nature itself is starting to buck and shake a little?"

Anna glared at him but didn't argue. If she thought of the earth as a huge scale, his reasoning made sense. Pile a bunch of snow onto one end, and in time the whole thing would flip over.

The quicker they got to Hans' magic cave the better.

And then she realized…

"Vladimir? Thomas?" Anna spun around, desperately hoping for a glimpse of either man. From any of her men. All that greeted her was a large wall of collapsed stone.

"It looks like they got trapped on the other side," Hans said, walking up beside her and casually stroking his chin.

Anna turned on the prince. "Don't you say that! Don't you dare say that!"

"What? The truth?"

"No! I mean—" Her eyes lost some of their fire as she turned back to the wall. Her stomach clenched in fear as her mind raced through the worst possibilities. "Oh God," she whispered. "What if it's completely collapsed on the other side? What if they're hurt? What if they're dead?"

Anna rushed over to the nearest stone, curled her fingers underneath it, and began to heave. It didn't budge.

"We have to help them!"

"Anna…"

"They could be trapped!"

"Anna, even if they do need our help, there's nothing we can do."

"Shut up. I don't want to hear your voice right now!"

"Anna!"

Anna felt herself being yanked back as Hans grabbed a fistful of her clothes. With Hans' wrists still in shackles, the move caught them both off-guard and they fell to the floor. They sat a foot apart, the only sound in the tunnel their labored breathing.

"Even if you move one stone, there are still hundreds of others," he said. "And the more you remove, the more unstable you make it. Remove enough and the whole thing will collapse again."

"But—"

"They're capable men. Proven soldiers and survivalists. If they are alive, they'll find a way to get out of this."

"But what if they're hurt?"

"If they're hurt, what could you possibly do that would help them?"

"I can get to them. We can rescue them."

"And then what?"

She blinked at him. "What… What do you mean?"

"Say you miraculously manage to get past this wall without it caving in again," Hans said, sweeping his hand at the stone barrier. "They're hurt. They can't walk. They can't move. Some of them are unconscious. What do you plan to do?"

"I…"

Anna bit her lip.

It was a full day's travel back to the last house they'd seen. If the horses were okay, maybe she'd be able to load them up and lead them all to safety. Of course, that was assuming they were all well enough to be moved.

And then what? Leave them at some poor farmer's house with practically no medical supplies and barely enough food to get by? She and Hans and whoever was left would have to triple back?

And that was assuming the horses were okay. If one of the beasts had broken a leg… They'd be stuck here in this cave, the storm only getting worse and worse…

"I don't know," Anna said.

She half-expected Hans to start gloating at her well-intentioned naiveté, but for once he had the decency to remain silent.

"But I can't just walk away either," she said defiantly.

Hans groaned.

"Fine," he said, awkwardly pushing himself up to his feet. "You stay here. Move all the rocks you want. Get crushed. I'm moving to safety." He squinted at the cave's mouth, a silhouette of white against the darkness. "I think our horses ran off over there. Might as well catch them before we end up in an even worse situation."

Anna settled for another glare as he left, then turned her attention back to the cave in. As much as she kept hating to admit it, Hans had a point. The wall was a jumbled mess. Many of its stones were balanced precariously atop one another; one wrong tug on the wrong rock, and the whole thing could come tumbling down.

She reached for the same stone from earlier, but doubt had already crept its way into her chest. The tugs she gave were nowhere near her full strength. After about a minute of "work" she slumped down, resting her back against it.

Then an idea struck.

"Hey!" Anna yelled, turning to directly face the wall. "Can anyone hear me! Are you all okay?! Is anyone okay?!"

She waited. Five seconds… then ten. Anna slowly counted to a full minute, heart pounding fast against her ears, then repeated her calls.

No response.

Goddammit all to... Anna grit her teeth as she slammed her fists onto the dusty cavern floor.

Tears welled in her eyes. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She wasn't supposed to have to choose. To have to walk away from her companions for the sake of some "greater good."

But what could she possibly accomplish by staying?

Anna remained like that for a good portion of an hour, fingers clutching the bottom of her cloak, trying not to burst into full on hysterics, yelling at the top of her lungs every few minutes in the hope of catching _some_ sort of response. None of it made any difference.

At last, she finally willed her legs to stand and, not bearing to look back, trudged out of the cavern and into the late morning sun.

"Ah, there you are," came the sound of Hans' voice. Anna blinked, her eyes adjusting to the sharp brightness. "I was starting to get worried. I have the horses. Both unharmed as far as I've been able to tell. Tried to sort through the packs and get a new inventory, but it's hard enough keeping a hold of their reins in these cuffs let alone trying to navigate straps and clasps and God knows what else."

Anna didn't know if he was trying to bait her or not. Frankly, she didn't have the strength to care anymore. She glanced around the small clearing where forest met mountainside.

Something was slightly off, some detail that wasn't quite sitting right in her brain. She continued to study her surrounding, confused, before she realized that it was first time in over a week that she'd seen actual grass on the ground. She'd kind of seen it the night before, but it was nowhere as _green_ as it was now.

At least it'd be somewhat easier to travel on this side of the mountains. She had to stay positive and that was one thing she could cling to, she guessed. Even so, if the storm had covered half a dozen kingdoms, it'd only be a matter of time before it pushed its way over the peaks.

They had to keep moving.

Anna made her way over to her new horse, hoping that Maximus was alright on the other side, and started rummaging through its supplies.

"No tent," she said. "Though we have two tarpaulins that should help keep the worse out. Spark rocks and a couple flasks, so we're good on water. Some extra clothes. A bit of jerky." Anna frowned. Vladimir, in addition to being the largest man, had the largest horse, so he'd been carrying the most amount of food. She'd deal with that as it came. "Rope, ice axe, grappettes… Though I don't think those will be very useful. They look way too big for my shoes, not to mention all the powder will be super fresh. I assume you've got the same stuff packed in yours?"

"More or less."

All things considered, it could've been a lot worse. They had their essentials. There was also a weird coil of wire and a small dagger at the bottom of the pack. She'd keep those buckled and hidden away from Hans. Maybe stick the dagger in her belt when he wasn't looking.

Shelter and food would be the biggest challenges, but there were still animals around she could maybe hunt. Perhaps… Kristoff had been good at trapping things, but he'd never really shown her how.

Anna took a deep breath.

"Can you get on?" she said, glancing at Hans' handcuffs.

"Now and every other day," he said, swinging up into Sitron with impossible ease.

She pursed her lips in jealously. With a slight bounce to prep herself, Anna hopped onto her own mount. Reins in hand, she looked at Hans.

"Where to now?" she asked, voice level and to the point.

"We follow this valley out and then continue south." Hans flashed her his most debonair smile. "Will you take the lead or shall I?"

"You," Anna said. "I'm keeping your back firmly where I can see it."

"How many times must I keep telling you?" he said with a sigh. "I have absolutely nothing to gain by murdering you this time."

She couldn't help the shudder that ran down her spine. Murder. He made it sound so… blasé.

Not to mention the way he'd said 'this time.'

"Back where I can see it," Anna repeated through gritted teeth.

As Hans' kicked his horse forward, Anna allowed herself one last glance at the cave entrance; it was her last chance to turn back. Her gaze shifted up towards the mountain peaks. A wispy tinge of grey was just beginning to curl over them.

She took a deep breath and followed after Hans.

* * *

"I'm thirsty."

"Then drink some water."

"I can't."

From up ahead, Anna heard the clanking of Hans' cuffs. He was shaking them to help get his obvious point across.

Anna groaned.

"You know," he said. "If you just removed them, I could—"

"No," she said sharply. "Also make your next lie a better one. I've already seen you drink countless times with those on. You didn't seem to have a problem then."

"But they feel so much heavier now…"

"You were in the navy once, right?" Anna said irritably. "I'm sure you went thirsty plenty of times then. Deal with it."

"But, Anna. I haven't had a sip all day. I'll practically die of thirst. Why… any second now I might even fall off my horse."

"Yeah right," she said, rolling her eyes. "Like that will happ—Hans!"

Anna nearly screamed as Hans suddenly pitched sideways off Sitron. She yanked on her reins, causing her own mare to rear back. Once she steadied it, she jumped off and ran over to him.

As she approached, Hans sat up.

He was completely uninjured.

Anna stared at him in shock, and then her face darkened into a scowl. Of course. Royalty. Horse lessons. They both knew how to take a fall.

"You know," Hans said with a wretched smile. "It's times like these that pocket mirrors really should be a traveling essential. I swear, the look on your face—"

He was interrupted by Anna throwing half a skin of water into his face.

"Still thirsty?"

He blinked at her, bangs dripping.

"You shouldn't have wasted that," he eventually said, his voice flat.

"Oh… it wasn't a waste," Anna said. She dragged him up by his collar and pushed him towards his horse.

He stumbled backwards, staring at her in disgust. It was a shared feeling. She crossed her arms and stared back at him in equal revulsion.

Hans was the one to finally break eye contact. He turned away from her with an unintelligible grumble and mounted Sitron again.

They continued on for several more hours in silence. No requests for water. No directions. Nothing.

It was peaceful not having to listen to him, but also of unsettling. Without the other members of her party, Anna had no one to talk to. Her horse trotted on and she was left alone with her thoughts. Normally she could handle that, having lots of practice growing up, but all her current thoughts were increasingly depressing and morbid ones.

Anna couldn't help but worry about her guards. Vladimir, Thomas, Caldwell, Rogir… She prayed that they were okay and that the only reason she hadn't gotten a response to her yelling was the thickness of the stone wall.

What if they were injured though? What if they were dying? She'd sacrificed them to keep going, but what if she got to Hans' cave and nothing was there? Would they have died for nothing? What would she do then? She didn't really have any other backup plans. How many people would die because she screwed up? How many would die because she decided to trust a man that shouldn't have ever been trusted?

How many had already died?

Her head was pounding and she was feeling somewhat sick from the stress of it all by the time Hans finally spoke.

"It's getting late," she heard him say. "We should find a place and start setting up camp."

"No. We don't have time."

Sitron stopped and her mare nearly bumped into him.

"What!?" Anna spat.

"I knew you were stupid, but I never knew just how stupid," Hans said turning on her. "Are you _trying_ to get both of us killed?"

"What are you—"

"First you toss out half our water, and then you plan to push both of us through the night when neither of us know the terrain. And that's not even taking into account our horses…"

"_First_," Anna said. "I only tossed out half of _your_ half of the water, so it was really only a quarter.

"Second, if you'd ever lived in the mountains, you'd know that there are streams all over the damn place. Honestly I'm shocked that we haven't had to cross ten of them already.

"Third, even without the streams, if you'd ever lived somewhere with snow, you'd know that once that blizzard catches up with us, lack of water is _not_ going to be an issue.

"And last, once that blizzard does catch up with us, our horses are going to get a lot more exhausted pushing through it versus a couple extra hours now. True, it's chilly, but it's still summer. We still have daylight ahead of us. We keep going."

"You seem to forget, _Princess,_ that this is going to be our first night setting up camp without an entourage of strong-armed men to do all the actual work."

"Excuse you. I did plenty of work."

Hans rolled his eyes. "Oh, please," he said. "You collected the firewood."

She puffed up in indignation before quickly deflating..

"Okay, yes," Anna said reluctantly. "But only because they didn't want me doing anything else." His annoying smirk told her she'd phrased that somewhat wrong. Like she'd admitted to being a dangerous klutz. "Because I'm a princess and that was their way of respecting that," she corrected. "Not because I didn't know how to do anything. _God!_ And you're one to talk. Compared to you, I'm probably a wilderness survival expert."

"A wilderness expert. Really." He raised an eyebrow. "This coming from a princess who spent ninety-nine percent of her life shut away in a castle."

Anna shrugged, the barb not stinging nearly as much as it would've several days ago. "Date a mountain man and you pick up a few tricks."

Hans grimaced. "And here I'd hoped _those_ rumors had been exaggerated."

"Why?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow. Something about his blatant displeasure intrigued her. "Wishing you still had a shot?"

"No," he said simply. "It's just that the thought of royal and common blood intermingling like rain into a sewage gutter disgusts me."

Anna's nose flared. She physically bit her tongue to keep from lashing out.

He was definitely baiting her. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of her rage, no matter how justified she be in whatever curses she hurled at him.

"I'm continuing on and that's final," Anna said, kicking her horse forward. "Feel free to stay and set up camp here if you like. I'm sure you'll manage just fine with those shackles."

* * *

They made camp a few hours later.

Hans was no help whatsoever. Granted, his shackles prevented him from doing most tasks, but right then Anna needed to hold onto anything that kept her sane and if that just so happened to be blaming Hans for everything currently wrong and annoying with her life, then so be it.

Yes. As long as he kept his pretty mouth closed and there were no more earthquakes, she'd be grateful dammit.

Since they didn't have a tent, Anna used her rudimentary mountaineering skills to create the best make-shift shelter she could. In addition to the two canvas tarps, they had a single sleeping roll. After a quick search, Anna found a tree with some good low branches. She slung one of the tarps over a branch and spread the other on the ground.

She and Hans would have to share the shabby structure — she made a small gagging sound at the thought — but she'd be keeping the sleeping pad all to herself. It helped that she'd found it in her mare's pack; it'd give her the logical upper-hand if Hans tried to argue for it later.

She gathered some sticks and loose rocks as Hans merely sat and watched next to Sitron. If he smiled or leered or glared or yawned or whatever-elsed at her, she ignored it. Soon enough she had a fire pit sent up and enough kindling to last them several hours.

Anna surveyed it with a smile, congratulating herself on a job well done.

Then her stomach growled.

Her smile vanished. She'd been nibbling on jerky to keep the worst of her hunger away, but she suddenly remembered it'd been over twenty-four hours since her last full meal.

Honestly, Anna would've been fine to go the rest of the trip on just jerky, but they didn't have nearly enough to last. She rummaged through the mare's pack, desperately trying to find anything she could use to hunt with. Kristoff had taught her a lot about the traveling aspects of mountaineering but almost nothing about hunting. Anna knew how to use a bow… kind of, but that was about it. And the pack was all out of bows and arrows.

She knew there were probably all sorts of traps she could set, but she didn't know what any of them looked like, let alone how to set them. Maybe it _would_ have to be jerky from here on out after all.

Perhaps if she rationed it really, _really_ well…

"Hey," Hans said.

She ignored him, trying to think of some other way they could get more food.

"Don't pretend like you can't hear me. I know you can."

Anna reluctantly spun to face Hans.

"What," she said.

"I need you to unshackle me."

"Not this again," Anna said with a sigh of exasperation. "No."

"Then I guess you'll just have to help me. Never realized how forward you were."

"What are you on about this time?"

"A man has his needs. Well… everyone does really."

"Huh?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you? Of course I do." He shrugged. "And I'm still thirsty by the way, which is amazing on its own. Do you know just how thirsty a person can be while really needing to piss because—"

"Ugh! No! Gross!" Anna shouted, blocking his crassness from her mind. "And the answer is still no! Your wrists are shackled in front of you, not behind you. Blegh! I'm sure you can manage… whatever you need on your own."

Anna continued to make disgusted noises as Hans wandered off into the trees to… well, to do his '_business_.' She shuddered. To say it so coarsely… how had she ever mistaken him for a proper gentleman?

And why had he brought it up? Ugh. Like the bit with the water earlier, he knew he could manage perfectly well on his own.

No, she knew why. He was taunting her. Attempting to throw her off balance. Exploring her weaknesses by hurling barbed insults at every possible crack he could find.

Anna didn't want to be waiting for Hans in the exact same spot when he came back, so she took some random gear from the pack and headed off in the opposite direction. Maybe if she wandered around a bit, everything would magically make sense and she'd be able to set up some successful traps.

No enlightenment came.

Defeated, she briefly took care of her own personal matters and then returned to camp. Hans was lounging next to the fire, his back resting against Sitron who sat behind him. He looked at the gear Anna had failed to do anything with.

"And just what were you planning on doing with that?" he asked smugly.

"Shut up."

She strode over to the main pack and began to shove the useless junk back inside, avoiding Hans' eyes as she did so.

"Were you trying to make a trap? I'm not half bad, you know. I could get us some fresh dinner if you unshackled me."

"It wasn't amusing the first time you asked me. It's not amusing now. We never took any chances when there were six of us, and I'm sure not taking any now that it's just me. Besides," she said, finishing the repacking and grabbing out the small bag of jerky. "Vladimir was the one who had the keys."

"Oh."

It was the first sincere word he'd said all trip.

Anna sat down across from him, nibbling on a piece of jerky as she studied him. Her eyes flicked to the shackles. She probably could've picked the lock, but Hans didn't know that.

That and it gave her some extra time to test a theory.

Hans seemed to interact with other people like they were all these weird, easily-tricked guardians of various opportunity doors. If he thought he had the slightest shot of squeezing through one, then he'd needle and cajole and manipulate his way to victory. But the second the door closed and the guardian was rendered pointless, he'd drop the charade.

Instantaneously.

There was a strange logic to it. _A strange, inhuman logic,_ she thought as her teeth tore their way through a rather thick tendon.

"Want some?" she asked, holding up the bag.

"I'd rather have some water first."

"Whatever." She tossed his half-empty waterskin over to him. He caught it with an awkward jangle of his chains. "Don't drink it all at once. I'm not refilling them until mine's empty."

If he'd listened to her, he didn't respond. Anna went back to her jerky. There had to be a way to ration it. Perhaps if she kept most of the meat for herself and half-starved Hans…

She dimly registered that he was saying something.

"What?" she asked.

"I'll take some of that jerky now," he said pointing at her bag.

Anna briefly considered refusing out of petty spite before starting to hand it over. Then she paused, a sudden thought occurring. She wrinkled her nose.

"Wash your hands first," she said, gesturing her head in the direction of the nearby stream.

Hans grumbled about the alpine water freezing the iron around his wrists but mercifully obeyed. For a few blissful minutes she was left alone with only the crackle of the fire to fill the silence. Unfortunately, Hans returned all too soon, and Anna practically threw the jerky bag at his head when he asked for it a second time.

"This won't last us the rest of the journey," he said.

Prince Obvious.

"Shut up and eat."

"Ignoring the problem won't give us more food."

"I know! I'm thinking about it! Okay?! I'll… think of something." She watched as he started to open his mouth and preemptively cut him off, "And don't you dare ask me to take your cuffs off again. I told you I'm sick and tired of it, so ask me one more time and I swear I'll punch you in the face!"

She took a quick pause for breath. Hans looked at her, slightly concerned, but also slightly haughty, like he prided himself in having pushed her to her limits.

"I wasn't," he said. "Like you said. You don't have the keys."

Anna moaned in frustration, all the stress that'd been building in her head tumbling out in one giant breath. She curled her knees against herself and buried her face in them.

She didn't know if she could keep doing this. Not for another… how many days was it? They'd left Stralshagen about four days ago. If Hans wasn't lying about the directions, it'd take them at least another day, maybe two, to reach the cave. And then assuming everything actually went according to plan, they still had to get back.

Meanwhile, her sole companion was a git. A murderous git that only ever opened his mouth to insult and annoy and manipulate the people around him.

She was sick of it. Sick of his voice when he said some sarcastic or nasty comment. Sick of the silence when he didn't.

"Just talk to me," she mumbled from her knees.

"What?"

"Talk to me," she repeated, lifting her head. "About something. Anything. Just let us have an actual _conversation_."

"I have been. But you don't seem to approve of anything I have to say."

"Stop!" Anna said. "Enough, okay? Enough. You know exactly what you've been doing. Conversation isn't insults and mental games. It's… it's…" She groaned. "I shouldn't have to tell you what it is."

Anna stared at the fire.

It was stupid to think that he'd ever—

"Fine," Hans said, shifting against Sitron. "What do you want to talk about?"

She blinked.

He was watching her intently and seemed to be waiting for her to pick the topic.

It had to be another trick. A ploy to get her to lower her guard… Hans would never agree to just _talk_.

Anna rubbed her temples.

"Tell me about your brothers," she finally said.

Hans raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to hear about them?" he asked, the disdain in his voice clearly evident.

"Well," she said. "I still don't know all that much about them. And now that I've actually met a couple, I have some faces to go with the stories."

He stared at her. For a second, Anna thought he was going to propose a different topic, but then he sighed.

"Alright," he said. "I have twelve brothers, which — if you ask me — is twelve too many. Philipp is the oldest and the king, but he never married, so really Franz's kids are the ones looking to inherit—"

Anna frowned. She couldn't remember anyone named Franz.

"Which ones did I meet?" she asked.

"How the hell am I supposed to know that?" Hans asked.

"Oh, right. Well, there's Leon," Anna said brightly. "He's the nice one that took me to your cell."

"Ugh, nice? Really?"

"Yes, really. Well… comparatively nice," she amended, thinking of the way he'd chickened out from the journey.

Hans snorted. "He tries too hard."

"What. As opposed to you?"

"Touché. Who else then? Go on."

"Umm… there was this really nasty one," she said, taking note of the way Hans smiled in response. "I forget his name. He had these enormous muttonchops."

"Ah, Georg."

"Yep! That was him. Ooh… I could tell he hated me as soon as I walked in. The entire time I was there it was 'oh, what's she doing here?'," Anna said, lowering her voice in a gruff imitation. "'An Arendelle princess? Oh. She's the useless Arendelle princess. Where's her sister? Her sister's the one who can help us.' Well… Elsa is queen now, not a princess, but you know what I mean."

"Hmm…"

Anna bit her lip. "You said three of them pretended you were invisible when you were little?"

"You remember that?" Hans shook his head. "Well, Georg was one of them. The one who started it actually. Manfried followed him because God help us all if he ever developed a spine. And I then guess Fritz joined in because he thought it was funny."

Fritz… she vaguely remembered that name, but not much else. There'd just been too many of them.

"Do have a brother you at least _sort of_ got along with?"

"I guess," he said. He glanced up at the dark pine needles, seemingly pondering the question. "Erich was always the most down to earth. We got along decently well, I suppose. He left the islands when I was ten. He still visits for Christmas every couple of years, but that's it."

"Oh, why did he leave?"

Hans raised an eyebrow at her like she'd just asked why deer ate grass. "After everything you've learned about my family, you really have to ask?"

Anna shrugged. "You've told a lot of lies. Sometimes I wonder if I've learned anything about you or your family at all."

"True," he said. "But you're still listening to me. _That's_ not very good judgement."

"I think judgement's a bit relative when I don't have much of a choice in the matter."

"Also true. What can I say? Twelve brothers… Erich felt the same pressures I did. Wanted to get away from it. Explore the world. Find his own path in life."

"Sounds like the brown sheep to your black one."

"Oh, Anna," he said, clutching his heart with both his hands in fake pain. "Your words wound me."

Anna felt a smile creeping up on her face and instantly squashed it back down. Hans was still a jerk. Even if he _was_ starting to lift her spirits again, she refused give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

"But you're right about our similarities," he continued. "As soon as I got old enough, I escaped in my own way. Volunteered to be our family's ambassador for a duke's birthday. Volunteered for this one peace treaty's anniversary ceremony after that. Kept volunteering until everyone started assuming I'd be the one to go to everything."

"And then you came to Arendelle."

"Yes." There was just the faintest trace of bitterness in his voice. "Arendelle."

"Was everything that we…" Anna bit her lip, turning her face towards ground. The fire cast flickering shadows against it. "Was it all a lie?"

The words tumbled out before she could stop them.

A dreadful silence followed. She could feel her face flushing with embarrassment.

"Of course not," he said. "I do have a heart you know."

Anna squeezed her eyes shut, not letting herself believe the words spilling out of his mouth.

Not letting herself believe the lies.

"I honestly enjoyed myself the night of your sister's coronation," Hans continued. "But let's be honest, we'd only known each for a total of what? Three hours? What kind of person forms a legitimate attachment after such a short— Oh, that's right. _You._"

Anna's eyes snapped open. His words pierced though her gut.

Just like that, the conversation was dead. She sat in silence, not moving her eyes from their particular point on the ground, and then grabbed both of the waterskins. She stomped off to the stream, cheeks burning.

What had she been thinking?

Hans wasn't nice. He'd never been nice. Would never be nice. Anything she said, he'd eventually throw back in her face. She knew that. But no, she just _had_ to be addicted to basic human interaction and get all pathetic and practically _beg_ him for a conversation.

Anna knelt by the stream and filled up the skins, wiping away any excess moisture from her eyes with the heel of her free hand. She tried not to directly look at him when she returned to camp, pushing past both him and the fire. She entered their small canvas structure and began to arrange the sleeping roll as comfortably as possible.

"Going to bed?" she heard him ask from outside.

Anna ignored him at first, but then… no. She wouldn't _completely_ sink to his level.

"We have a long day ahead of us," she said as she plumped and prodded her pack into a halfway decent pillow.

"What a shame. Just when I thought were we starting to hit it off again."

Anna bit back a shriek of rage. She reminded herself that punching his face would only end up hurting her hand and lead to more difficulties the next day.

As much as Anna hated idea of going to sleep before him — he could do all sorts of mischief while she was unconscious — she didn't have that much of a choice. Even if she could command him to fall asleep first, Anna had no guarantee that he'd fully obey.

Close his eyes? Sure. Pretend to be sleep? Sure. Actually fall asleep? Ha! Fat chance.

Might as well leave him next to the fire to keep an eye on it. Whatever the hell else he wanted, he'd do anyway.

Even with those completely logical thoughts, her stomach clenched in nervousness she curled up on her sleeping pad and faced the tarp wall. He could strangle her in her sleep and she'd have no way of stopping it…

Anna reviewed the decisions she'd made that had somehow led to her current situation. Had she done something wrong? Had she overlooked something that could've prevented all of this? She missed the others. Especially Maximus. He would've steered her straight, a bastion of justice and righteousness handpicked by her own cousin… and lost by her.

Still, the more she thought about it, Anna couldn't think of anything she could have differently short of physically kidnapping one of the other princes and torturing Hans until he screamed out the directions to the cave in exchange for mercy… She guessed she could've never listened to Hans in the first place, but then she'd be stuck in Stralshagen with the rest of the Southern Islanders, just as clueless and helpless as she'd been when she first set off from Corona.

In the end, Anna was doing the best she could. She just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other. If she did that, everything would work out okay, just as it always did…

Anna shivered as a stray breeze wound its way into her shelter.

So why did she feel so lost?


	6. Act One: Part Six

Anna woke up, eyes wide and gasping for air.

The old nightmare had returned.

Elsa had been kneeling in grief across the fjord, Hans poised behind her ready to strike. His sword glinted in the frosty, sunlit air. Only in the nightmare Anna never got there fast enough. Her legs were always too frozen, her muscles too weak. As he swung, blood stained the white snow…

Anna shuddered.

It was just a dream. All just a dream.

As she slowly exhaled, Anna watched her breath condense in the morning air. That meant the storm was moving more quickly over the mountains than she'd hoped.

Anna tossed off her thin blankets and peeked her head outside. Hans had fallen asleep curled up with the horses against a nearby tree. No immediate threat there.

Of course, 'immediate threat' wasn't quite the same as 'no threat'…

No. Thinking that way wasn't going to help her. She was stuck with Hans and she was going to have to make the most of it.

Her optimism lasted a grand total of twenty minutes.

After Anna woke him, Hans refused to help her pack up a single inch of their small camp, claiming his handcuffs got in the way. The sun was significantly higher in the sky by the time she was done, and — after a final visual sweep to make sure she hadn't left anything behind — they were off.

They followed a path that sloped down from the mountain, growing steeper and steeper until they found themselves on an series of exposed switchbacks that led down into a shaded valley. The going was slow and exhausting; they had to dismount for safety, and Anna kept stumbling over scree despite her best attempts not too.

After they reached the bottom, there were even more unexpected delays.

The alpine streams she'd bragged to Hans about yesterday were starting to criss-cross in full force. Twice they were forced double back to find stable crossings for the horses.

Anna refilled the water skeins each time. She didn't need to, but it only took a few minutes and prevented Hans from having one extra thing to complain about.

Speaking of Hans, the prince was making them stop more and more as the day went on. He'd sit atop Sitron with his eyes closed, and any time Anna tried to say a word he'd hush her silent.

"If you're trying to remember the way, could you do it a little bit faster?" Anna asked after one particularly long pause. Her mare pawed at the ground in shared boredom. "Or, you know, you could always write the directions down somewhere and then we wouldn't have to stop at all."

Hans glared at her as the lines around his mouth twisted into an ugly scowl. Once upon a time it would've made her blood run cold; now Anna merely rolled her eyes.

Her nightmares were just that. A thing of the past.

At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

"This way," he said, steering Sitron forward.

Anna and her mare looked at each, both hapless passengers on this wild goose-quest, and ultimately followed.

After another hour, the ground started to flatten out again. Trees still loomed overheard, but they seemed to be stretching their arms out, spacing themselves further apart from one another. The path became a true path. The sky shone above from almost every angle instead of just popping out every now and again to briefly say "hi."

A couple of birds chirped in the distance and Anna leaned back in her saddle, the calm, repetitive scenery a welcome reprieve from the more treacherous mountain paths.

Her horse froze.

The mare's ears perked up. Her head swiveled from side to side. Her snout was taking in short sniffs… She let out a soft whinny as she stepped backwards several paces.

Anna's hands tightened on the reins. "Hans…"

The prince seemed to be encountering similar difficulties with Sitron. His mouth was locked in a grim line.

"I know," he said, scanning the forest.

Anna caught a dash of movement from the corner of her eye. She whipped her head to look, but it was gone.

Just shadows in the distant trees.

A shiver ran down her spine. She kept her eyes on the forest as her hand reached down, felt for the dagger concealed on her waist…

A ragged snarl came from her left, and a grey blur shot out from the trees. Her mare reared back in alarm, the blur missing it by inches. Anna's knees dug into its sides as she clung on for dear life. The blur landed several feet away and materialized into an actual shape. It was a scrawny thing, more bones than flesh and muscle. Frost coated its fur as it howled low and long.

Wolves.

"Run!" Hans said, kicking Sitron into flight.

The movement shocked Anna back into reality and she followed suit.

Their horses galloped down the winding forest path as the cheerful sun mocked them overhead. Careful to stay on course, Anna risked turning her head back. Five more wolves had joined the first. They were continuing to chase her and Hans, but seemed to be falling further and further back. Yes! Their horses were outpacing them.

Anna's heart did a little flip of glee. As long as she and Hans were able to maintain their speed, they'd be safe. There wouldn't even have to be any mad leaps across snowy gorges or fireballs of destruction this time.

With renewed vigor, Anna turned back around. And screamed.

Her mare's leg caught on an exposed root and tumbled forward, bringing Anna down with her. There was barely a second to think before the horse slammed into the ground and Anna was sent flying. The next collision knocked the breath out of her lungs and sent pain shooting up her leg.

Her head was scrambled. The world was a drunken mess of colors. Anna clutched at her forehead, trying to mentally straighten out everything around her.

She was lying off to the side of the main path. Her horse was down as well, collapsed a dozen or so feet away. Hans was far off and growing smaller. As she watched, he turned his head and bit out a curse…

A growl brought her attention back to herself.

The six wolves had closed in. A couple hovered by her horse, but the rest were creeping steadily towards her.

Anna unsheathed the dagger from her waist. The metal, so reassuring when it'd just been her and Hans, suddenly felt extremely childish and flimsy in her hands. It barely had any range. Her arm would get bitten off before she could get close enough to stab any of them.

What else was there…?

She scanned the area, her eyes falling on the main pack of supplies. Its buckles had broke free in the fall, and its contents were now half-scattered across the path. She focused in on one item in particular: the ice axe. It had a long shaft and a nice sharp pick. If she could just get to it…

Anna pushed herself up and tried to make a mad dash for it only for her ankle to give out on the first step. Pain lanced across it and she cried out, falling straight back to the ground, almost stabbing herself with the dagger as she did.

She grit her teeth as tears formed in her eyes. She was so close.

As the wolves closed in further, she held up her dagger again. One was readying itself to pounce. She swept the dagger back and forth at it like a horizontal pendulum. It paused for a moment, and then resumed its position. So close and…

"Anna!"

Her head jerked around to see Hans pulling up on Sitron beside her.

He'd come back.

She blinked in disbelief for a brief second before remembering the wolves.

"The ice axe!" she yelled.

She didn't have to tell him twice. Despite his supposedly immobilizing handcuffs, Hans swung himself off Sitron in one fluid movement and took hold of the axe with the next.

He swung at the nearest wolf. It tumbled back with a high yelp as the blunt adze hit its ribs. Hans reversed his swing and struck the next with the pick. It pierced through the wolf's side with a sickening squelch. As he pulled it back out, the wolf collapsed.

Hans stood over its corpse, axe gripped in his hands, the wolf's blood dripping down its serrated steel. The wolves studied him, one bared its fangs… and then they scampered.

Anna let out a shaky breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"We shouldn't stay here for long," he said without a hint of emotion to his voice. "They might be back."

Anna looked at the corpse at his feet and shivered. Its blood pooled on the grass below.

And then the grass turned to ice and it was Elsa lying there. Her sister dead on the fjord. Her eyes vacant and glassy.

No.

That was just the nightmare. In reality, Hans had just saved her. He'd just saved her life.

The wolf was not her sister.

Well, of course the wolf wasn't her sister. When she thought about it _that_ way, the comparison seemed silly.

Slowly Anna nodded. She pushed herself up and gingerly tested the weight on her ankle. Even keeping most of the pressure off it, it still hurt. She must have twisted or strained it in the fall. Anna grimaced. She'd have to add that to the list of everything else that'd gone wrong on this mission. Still, she'd be riding her horse soon enough. Maybe she'd be able to rest and take a better look at it, after they put enough distance behind them.

Anna limped forward to where Hans was standing. He was still holding the bloodied ice axe. She still clutched her dagger. Neither of them moved to put their weapons away.

They stood there in the sunny clearing, staring at each other.

Finally Anna sighed and sheathed her dagger. If Hans really wanted her dead, he would've left her for the wolves. Part of the tension evaporated.

She looked at the corpse again against her own better judgement. Its face was locked in a permanent snarl.

"I don't get it," Anna said. "It's summer. There should be plenty of food. Why did they attack?"

"Did you happen to miss the giant blizzard following us? They must've been trying to flee south, like we are."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "We're not _fleeing_ anywhere," she said.

"Semantics," he said, his shoulders slumping in exasperation. "You know what I mean."

She looked around the clearing. Her pack was on the ground, its items scattered all over the path. Her mare was also on the ground, still struggling to get up.

Anna frowned. That wasn't right.

"I need to check on my horse," Anna said, limping over to the creature. "Can you gather all the stuff and repack it? We can get out of here faster if you do."

She braced herself for another flurry of protests about his shackles, but for once Hans obeyed her. He gave her a single nod and went straight to work.

Anna returned her attention to the mare. Its eyes were wide and its nostrils flared. It gave a soft whiny as she stroked its muzzle. The poor thing was terrified. Once again, Anna was reminded of how much she missed Maximus. The mare had served her well the past two days and she felt guilty comparing the two horses like that, but Rapunzel's trusty steed was _far_ more suited to a journey like this…

Anna nudged the horse up and gave an encouraging pull on the reins. It started to follow and then stumbled, collapsing once again.

Oh no.

Her stomach sunk. Anna dropped to her knees, ignoring the pain in her ankle, and began to examine the horse's legs. All the others seemed okay, but its front right leg was bent in all the right places… and then in one additional and definitely _wrong_ one.

"What's taking so long?"

A shadow crossed over her; Hans was standing behind her with a fully gathered pack. His eyes swept over the horse before landing on the problematic area. The prince stiffened and then began to chuckle. It reverberating through the clearing cold and hollow.

"Great," she heard him say. "First you become a cripple. Now the horse."

"I don't know what to do," Anna whispered.

Hans stared at her in silence and then sighed. He dropped the pack and held out his hand. "I do," he said. "Give me the knife."

Anna blinked at him in confusion. Then her eyes widened and she fell backwards in shock.

"No! You can't!"

He frowned at her.

"Its leg is clearly broken, Anna. We can't heal it. We can't drag it along with us. If we leave it behind, it will die anyway, either by the snow or the wolves that followed us. A swift death would be the merciful thing to do."

"No!" Anna stood up and took a painful step back. She winced and then faced Hans in defiance. "I'm not letting you kill her," she said stiffly.

"Oh? So you want to let the wolves do that then?"

"No!"

"Then what."

"I… I don't know. Something."

"Something isn't a plan, Anna."

"I know that! Just… just shut up and let me think. I can think of something…"

Hans regarded her expectantly and then sighed. "Alright then. While you think of your 'something', I'm going to start consolidating supplies. Sitron won't be able to carry everything."

"He won't have to," Anna spat out.

But Hans was already walking away. She watched him start to easily rummage through the packs despite his clunky handcuffs; so much for his last defense against camp pickup and set up.

She looked at the horse, still stuck on the ground making soft snorts of pain. Anna knelt down and ran her hands gently through its soft mane.

"Ssssh," she said, stroking its neck. "It'll be okay. I'll find a way to get you through this."

But no matter how hard she thought, her brain refused to come up with any kind of a solution. It was the cave all over again

She was useless. Completely and utterly useless.

"I have all the stuff packed up!" Hans called out. "Have you come up with a brilliant plan yet?"

"Go _away_!" Anna screeched.

And then she started crying. The tears came slowly at first… and then all of her pent up frustration burst into one giant sob. She scrubbed at her eyes trying desperately to stop, but her body refused to obey her.

"Here."

Anna blinked through her teary fog to see Hans standing over her, both of his hands outstretched for her to take. She rubbed the heel of her hand over her eyes again and then grasped at him, letting him pull her up to her feet. Anna had barely a second to recover when she saw him hold out his hand again.

He wanted the knife.

She had to keep going. She had to find the stone and bring back summer. It was impossible for her to stay there, and the horse couldn't go on.

It was practicality. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Anna took a deep breath and passed the knife to Hans.

She tried to watch as he knelt down to the creature's level, as he splayed his hand over its chest, searching for its heart. She certainly owed it that much.

Hans lifted the knife, prepping for the kill.

She saw him and Elsa out on the ice.

She certainly owed it—

Anna turned away at the last second. She thought of anything, of everything, trying to block out the soft sounds. She stared at a small tuff of grass poking up from between a nearby cluster of rocks, silently sniffling.

A hand rested on her shoulder and Anna whirled around.

Hans was offering her back the dagger. Unlike the axe, he'd wiped the blade clean. She numbly took it and re-sheathed it. She dimly registered the body of the dead horse behind him.

"Come on," Hans said.

He steered her over to Sitron who pawed at the ground anxiously. For not the first time, Anna wondered how much personality he shared with his master. Was it even _possible_ for a horse to be evil?

Hans coughed behind her, shattering her out of her daze. She patted her dagger for reassurance and climbed on. Seconds later, she felt Hans settle in behind her.

He was warm at least. That was a positive thing. Her list of positive things didn't run much longer than that anymore. Anna watched as his arms lifted over her head to grab hold of the reins on either side of her, and then they were off.


	7. Act One: Part Seven

Anna drew circles in the dirt as the fire cast flickering shadows over their camp.

Today had been too close. She'd lost her horse, and if Hans hadn't been as quick as he'd been she could've lost a lot more. As much as she hated it, she needed Hans. Not just for navigation but as a fellow traveller. If they ran into trouble again… If they ended up losing Sitron too…

She rummaged through their pack's remaining supplies. She noticed Hans glance over from across the fire.

"Come here," she said, not taking her attention off the pack.

Her hands finally closed on the coil of wire she'd been searching for. As she drew it out, Hans flinched. Anna blinked at him.

Oh. He must've thought she was about to try and strangle him.

Anna smacked her forehead. "No, you idiot," she groaned. "Not everyone has murder on their mind like you. Give me your wrists."

He hesitated for a moment and then reluctantly approached. He held his wrists out, the chains around their cuffs clicking against each other. Anna inspected the key holes. Luckily it seemed to be a rather straightforward kind of lock. She bent the end of her wire into the appropriate shape and got to work.

After fiddling with it for a couple seconds, Hans spoke.

"I didn't know you were a lock picker."

"Eh," Anna said nonchalantly, keeping her focus on the small wire and equally small key hole. "I learned a thing or two here and there."

"The Crown Princess of Arendelle considering a career in thievery?"

"No…" she said. She paused before grabbing Hans' wrists to drag them into better light. "More like I never wanted to end up left in a locked room to helplessly freeze to death again."

Hans didn't respond to that. The pause slowly morphed into an awkward silence. Anna risked a glance at Hans' face. It was completely blank, neither eyes nor mouth betraying a single emotion. His freckles were the same as ever. His eyelashes, Anna also noted, were particularly thick and beautiful from this close…

It was completely unfair. Weren't all evil people supposed to be the ugly ones? All the authors of her favorite childhood fairy tales had a lot to answer for.

She turned her attention back to her work.

Perhaps this wasn't a good decision. There was a fair chance he'd try and kill her again as soon as the shackles were off. He'd stabbed that wolf like it was nothing. Same with the horse. She'd be no match for him if it came to a physical fight.

But at the same time, she reminded herself, he'd also saved her life. Why would he wait to slit her throat when he could've had a wolf disembowel her?

She twisted her lips in disgust at the mental image.

And of course, if another wolf incident did happen — or something just as bad where he needed his hands— then they'd both be dead, and where would that leave her?

If anything, her ghost would probably have to listen to his ghost gloat about it from now until eternity.

With a final click his cuffs were off.

Hans sat back, rubbing his newly freed wrists. There were red marks from where the metal had chaffed over the last four days.

"Thank you," he finally said, soft but clear.

"You're welcome," she heard herself saying in response.

He glanced around, seemingly regaining his bearings, and then his gaze focused on the wire in Anna's hands.

"Give that here," he said, holding out a hand.

Now it was Anna's turn to recoil.

"Please." He sighed. "Look, contrary to what you believe, I don't have murder constantly on the mind either. You want fresh meat for dinner? Then give it."

Oh. She'd been wondering what the wire's original purpose had been. It was trapping wire.

Anna briefly considering just handing it over and letting him do whatever with it, then tossed the idea away. She couldn't give him too much freedom too fast.

"Show me how to them set up," she said.

"No way," he said with a dismissive snort. "Your foot's injured, remember? You need to stay sitting, not go tramping all over the forest and hurt yourself more than you already have."

"Fine. Then just show me how to set up one."

"No."

"What you break your leg tomorrow? Or get knocked unconscious? What if the only way we can survive is for me to set a trap and I don't know how to do it because, _Oh no! My poor ankle wasn't strong enough!_" Anna swept her hand across her forehead in dramatic agony.

Hans rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he said. "It's your ankle."

He stalked off and she cheerfully limped after him. She carefully watched as he scanned the forest floor.

"Are you looking for tracks?" she asked, still clutching the wire.

"I'm looking for trails."

"What's the difference?"

He regarded her disdainfully, as though only an idiot didn't know that bit of knowledge. Anna refused to blush or be embarrassed. She crossed her arms and waited for an answer.

"Tracks are evidence of one particular animal," Hans said with a sigh. He resumed his search. "Trails are evidence of multiple animals over the same course."

"Like a path versus a footprint?"

"Precisely."

After a couple more minutes of searching, Hans found one and pointed out the telltale signs to look for. Anna nodded along, only mildly seeing what was apparently obvious to him. He coached her through the set-up of the actual trap. Anna felt mildly guilty as she tied a loop across a narrow gap between two baby trees, but she was also very hungry. She tried to tell herself that it was no different from all the other rabbits she'd eaten before. She'd just know where this particular rabbit had come from.

Finally, with her ankle throbbing slightly more than she'd care to admit, she relinquished the wire to Hans so he could set up more traps as she limped back to camp.

He wasn't gone very long. Of the eight traps he ultimately set, two captured rabbits within the hour. For the second time that day he asked for her knife, but this time Anna shook her head.

"This I've actually got," she said looking at the carcasses dangling from Hans' hands. Kristoff had taught her how to skin rabbits, although she'd only done it once. "We only need the two. Go get rid of the remaining traps before they kill any more."

Hans shrugged and dumped the rabbits directly into her lap.

Their dead eyes stared up at her as she fought back an initial shriek of shock and then a curse at Hans' retreating head. Anna scowled briefly before beginning the dirty chore. She had the meat tied up and roasting on a spit by the time he returned.

Despite everything else that'd happened that day, Anna couldn't help but let out a soft moan when she finally unwrapped bit into one. After an entire two days of salted jerky, the tender meat was pure heaven.

"That good, huh?"

"Yesh," she said, not bothering that her mouth was full as she said it.

"It's not bad," he said between bites. Unlike Anna he ate with a sort of dining room precision, careful not to let any of the juices drip down his hands and onto his clothes. If they'd had a napkin, Anna would've expected him to pull it out and start dabbing the sides of his face.

"Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment."

Hans flashed her a quick grin and then resumed eating.

She didn't talk much after that. He didn't either. Simply eating and then sitting in each other's presence seemed to be enough as far as interaction went. If she thought too much, Anna began to remember the wolves and her poor mare, how she'd just sat there and let it happen, but sitting there by the fire, listening to its crackle as it echoed off the trees, she was able to slip into a thoughtless trance and just be.

It seemed to be enough for Hans too.

At last the fire started to die down and a chill swept through the bight air. Hans' shivered and then started to make his way to Anna's makeshift tarp structure. She considered yelling out that it was her tent, that he could go sleep with the horses again, but quickly scolded herself for the childishness of the idea.

Anna knew they'd have to share it sooner or later. It was just going to keep getting colder as the storm slowly caught up to them, and once the snow came, ordering Hans to sleep outside would be tantamount to suicide.

She didn't have to like it though.

Anna debated staying by the fire and keeping it tended throughout the night for warmth. If she did that though, she wouldn't get much sleep, if any, and she'd have to continually wander the forest for extra firewood. And even then, only one side of her would ever be warm at a time…

With a defeated huff, Anna slowly made her own way over to the shelter. Hans was already stretched out across its left side as she entered. She took up her own position on the right, trying to ignore his breathing as she kept her back to him.

"How many more days to the cave?" she asked as she shifted. The ground was cold and lumpy even through the tarp beneath her.

"Maybe one or two? It's hard to say now that we only have Sitron." In such close quarters, Anna could feel the reverberations as he spoke. "And then we'll have to climb part of the mountain."

"Mountain?"

"I told you. The stone's in a secret mountain cave."

"Secret mountain cave," Anna said with a yawn. "Of course."

"Hey. I wasn't the one who decided to put it there."

"Sure, you weren't."

They bantered a bit more about meaningless things. Whenever his responses got too rude, she'd elbow him lightly in the back. For once Anna was grateful for the prince's annoying voice; it took her mind off far more depressing things.

She didn't remember when she finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Anna woke in the blue, pre-dawn light to a sharp blast of winter air. The main tarp had snapped free of several of its ties and was flapping wildly in the wind. The fire pit was completely dead. Had been dead for hours. She could barely see the trees on the other side of their camp but already white flakes were beginning to coat them all.

The blizzard had caught up to them.

"Shit!" yelled a voice next to her.

Hans was awake.

Anna quickly went through their options: they could attempt to set up the tent again and try to sleep for another hour or two… or they could suck it up and just start moving.

Another blast of cold air hit her arms and Anna shivered.

Start moving it was.

"There's no sense staying here!" she shouted to Hans. Already the wind carrying her voice away, making it hard to communicate. "Come on. Help me pack up!"

The wolf attack had certainly been the turning point for something. It was somewhat unsettling how quickly Hans seemed to listen to her now, but she wasn't about to complain. They had their stuff packed up and Sitron saddled in record time. Hans swung up behind her and they were off, letting the outwards push of the storm guide them to the south.

Anna was incredibly grateful now to have Hans behind her. The icy wind stung her face, her hands… she stuck them underneath her cloak and let Hans do all the steering. If the prince noticed how she leaned back at times, attempting to shelter herself with his body as much as possible, he thankfully didn't say anything.

It wasn't perfect though. With the extra weight on Sitron's back _and_ the wind _and_ the quickly accumulating snow, Hans had to get off every now and again to give Sitron a rest. He held Sitron's reins with one hand, burying the other beneath his clothes.

At one point, Anna got off and tried to lead, to pull her own weight, but it didn't work out. Hans was taller, his legs longer. Where he stepped easily through the snow, Anna struggled to lift her knees fully up and over. The snow fell so fast and cold that it froze in layers of icy sheets rather than the fluffy powder she was used to back home. She had to slam her heel down to break through, and she could only use her one good foot to do so.

Hans let her flounder for barely five minutes before ordering her back up on the horse.

They spent most of the morning like that, twisting and turning through the woods, Hans hopping on and off like irregular clockwork. Or at least Anna assumed it was still morning. It was hard to tell time when the sun was blocked out by the clouds.

Hans was off again, leading about three feet in front of Sitron when she heard a tell-tale crunch.

Her eyes snapped wide. By habit, her hands reached out and yanked back on the reins near Sitron's mouth. The horse reared back onto safe ground as a cornice cracked apart beneath her.

"Look out!" she screamed.

It broke off from the cliff's edge. Hans fell with it, and her heart threatened to leap out of her chest.

Ohhhhh no. No no no no no no no.

She took a couple of split seconds to survey her surroundings. The ground had been gradually sloping up over the course of the past hour. They'd passed the tree line about twenty feet back. In front of her, even taking into account the snow, there was nothing. Pure white nothing.

Shoot! How could she've been so _stupid_?!

She slid off of Sitron and carefully made her way forward. Who knew how far up they were? How steep and tall the cliffs were? If Hans had truly fallen… If he'd just died and she was stuck here…

Alone…

She leaned over and spotted the top of his orange head through the whiteout.

"Hans!" she cried out in giddy relief. He'd managed to clutch onto the side of the cliff face about twenty feet down. She gave a quick silent prayer of thanks. "Just you hold on, okay?! I'm going to grab the rope and toss it down! Whatever you do, don't let go!"

"Of course! Because I _really_ needed you to tell me that!" he shouted back.

At least he wasn't seriously injured. That was good.

She rushed over to Sitron and dug through the pack for their rope and ice axe. Keeping a safe distance from the edge, she stamped down a patch of snow with her good foot until it was nice and compact. Then she slammed the ice axe down into it, pick first.

Now she was left with the tricky part…

How did she set it up again?

Extremely conscious of her sole traveling partner currently dangling on the side of the cliff, Anna tried and failed several times to set up the boot-axe belay.

Rope went parallel to the axe… then back and around her boot… Yes!

Mostly confident that she had it right this time, she tied one end of the rope several times around her waist and then carried to rest over to the edge.

"Don't grab on until I say so!" she yelled down. "Otherwise we're both dead! Oh! And when you grab onto it, you're gonna to have to try and lean back and sort of walk up!"

"Wonderful! Just hurry it up!"

Anna half-limped, half-ran back to the axe and crouched down into position. If she had this wrong—

"Now!" she yelled, her hands gripping around the rope.

Anna was yanked forward as Hans weighted his end of the rope. She managed to catch herself as the fibers burned against her palms.

Oh God, he was heavier than she'd thought. Taking a deep shuddering breath, she readied herself and began to pull. Left hand went forward, and then dragged back. Right hand grabbed the new position. Left hand went forward again… and then back…

She let herself fall into the slow rhythm and ignored the ache building in her back. She was grateful for the thick winter boots she'd brought with her from Arendelle.

And Elsa had lectured her for bringing them, saying that they'd just be wasted space in her luggage.

Hah!

At last she managed to pull Hans up over the top. She fell backwards into the snow as he let go of his side of the rope. He fell to the ground as well, clearly exhausted from the effort of holding on. They both laid there, panting, trying to regain control of their lungs as the blizzard continued to howl.

Hans slowly looked up and stared at her.

"You… you saved me…" he said in disbelief.

Anna stared back at him.

"Well, yeah," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand and a brief laugh. "I mean, it's not like we're on a critical mission to save the world together or anything like that."

Anna picked herself up and began untying the rope from her waist. Her hands hurt and her fingers were numb, so it took longer than she would've liked. Hans was still staring at her with a strange sort of dazed look on his face as she pulled the ice axe out of the snow.

"Oh, come on already," she snapped. "Before this whole cliffside falls out from under us."

She tossed the supplies in Sitron's pack and led him back down to the tree line. Hans silently followed.

"I thought you knew where we were going!" Anna said once they were beneath the branches and better sheltered from the wind.

"I did!" he said. "…I do!" Sitron let out a snort, and Hans glared at his previously loyal steed. "You're not allowed to give me that look."

Anna nearly screamed in aggravation.

"Look! I am not going a _step_ further in this godforsaken storm until I know _exactly_ where it is I'm walking. I don't care about your secrets! I need a map. Now!"

Hans crossed his arms and grumbled under his breath. He looked up at the sky, seemingly at war within himself, and then he grudgingly snapped off a twig from the nearest tree and began drawing a crude map in the snow.

"This is where we are," he said pointing to a random spot next to some squiggles. "And this is where we should be going."

Anna squinted, trying to make sense of the thing.

Hans had many skills. Map making wasn't one of them.

"Well," she said. "Your 'where we are' is definitely wrong, since you just walked us off a cliff."

"_Almost _walked us off a cliff."

"Oh, my _deepest_ apologies," Anna said in her stuffiest princess voice. She splayed her hand against her chest. "_Almost._"

"It you don't have anything constructive to say, then don't."

Anna started to stick her tongue out at him, but the cold made her instantly retract it. She returned her attention to his pathetic map instead.

"What are these?" she asked, pointing to the squiggles.

"There's a natural pass that should lead us down straight into the final valley," he said, tracing their length. "The mountain with the cave is on the other side."

"And these?" she asked, pointing to some other nearby markings.

"Streams. They connect to the main valley river here."

Anna surveyed the entire map and frowned.

"Well," she finally said. "Based on these cliffs, we didn't hit your pass. We can either try to find it, which — in this blizzard — will be like trying to find coal in a cobblestone street, _or_, using the cliffside as a handrail, we can keep going east until we hit this stream here. It might not be as pretty as the pass, but it should still get us down."

"And if there are waterfalls?"

"Then at least we'll know where we are again."

Hans was silent. His eyes swept over his map as his lips twisted in annoyance.

"Fine," he bit out. "I suppose if that's the best you can come up with."

"_Excuse_ me?" Anna scoffed. "I don't hear you coming up with anything."

"The best _we_ can come up with," he modified.

Anna was still a bit disgruntled but took it as the only apology she was going to get.

"Better" she said.

Hans scuffed out the snow map with his boot as they left. Anna sighed at his paranoia. The falling snow would've fully covered it up within the next twenty minutes. Maybe less.

Still, Hans was being as agreeable as she could expect him. She could grant him a little leeway as far as paranoia went.

They set out on a new trail, parallel to the cliffside. She and Hans stayed alert now, always careful to stay within the tree line and far away from any hidden cornices, until they came to the small stream that Hans had drawn on his map. It had already frozen over with the storm. They followed it as it twisted and turned down into the valley.

Her luck finally start to kick in. There were no waterfalls or steep drop offs, and the deep snow made it somewhat easier to plunge step their way down.

The stream met up with the valley river at the bottom, and the ground leveled out again. Hans and Anna wandered up and down the river's shores until they found a giant tree that had fallen across, making a solid natural bridge. Sitron needed some slight coaxing, but with some minor effort they were over and safe on the other side. With no cliffs or cornices in sight, it'd be mindless trekking from here to their final camp at the base of the final mountain.

Anna's thoughts started to drift again as she tried to ignore the numbness of her toes. When they finally brought back summer, Anna made a vow to hop into a sauna and then never ever _ever_ come out…

* * *

They set up their final camp at the base of a steep mountain. Anna's luck was continuing to hold out; a couple of large trees had fallen next to some large boulders. Combined, the group of objects would serve as a good natural walls for the night's shelter.

Anna handed over the trapping wire to Hans with no protest this time, and he wandered off to catch dinner as she began digging out and piling up snow for extra insulation. She tied their main tarp over the top to create a nice little ceiling, started a fire near the entrance, and — by the time Hans returned — thought she might actually be getting some feeling back into her outer extremities.

She'd made the shelter big enough for Sitron that night. He laid down and Hans and Anna leaned against him as they ate, his skin warm against their backs.

"So. Almost there," she said between bites. "How far up is the cave?"

"Not entirely sure," Hans replied. He paused to pick out a bit of stray meat from his teeth. "The book never gave directions in terms of actual distances. It prefered cryptic passages about turning left at the rock of the falcon and nonsense like that."

"Explain to me why I agreed to go along with you in all of this again."

Hans smiled, the light of the fire catching in his now spotless teeth. "Because you, like me, had no other choice."

"Yeah," Anna said with a deflated sigh. "I was worried it was something like that."

Hans chuckled at that. Not his hollow chuckle. Or his dismissive chuckle. Or his "I know more than you do" chuckle. But rather an honest-to-god, genuine chuckle. It was warm and rich and made the skin around his eyes crinkle ever so slightly.

Anna didn't like it.

She turned her attention back to her rabbit.

"If I had to guess though," she heard Hans said. "I'd say… three thousand feet? Give or take."

Anna's heart sunk.

"And I don't suppose we can take Sitron with us?"

"Nope. On foot from here on out."

As if on cue, Anna's ankle throbbed. She winced at the thought of trudging up three thousand vertical feet on it.

"If my ankle gives out," Anna said. "You're carrying me the rest of the way up."

"Done," Hans said automatically.

Anna stared at him. "Done?" she repeated. "Just like that?"

"Of course. We made it this far. I'm not letting something as silly as a sprained ankle stop us."

Us. It felt weird hearing him refer to the two of them like that. A weird, silly feeling. After all, they were working together. It was only natural that Mister Thirteenth Loner Prince would start including himself as part of a team, and still…

Anna didn't like it.

She finished the remainder of her rabbit and tossed the stick it'd been roasting on away.

Sticks.

That reminded her.

"I need you to go out and grab sticks. Long ones. As straight as you can find. And with as many leaves still attached as possible. We need…" Anna paused, doing the calculations in her head. "At least 50? 60?"

Hans stared at her like she'd just grown an extra head.

"You want me to go out in_ this_," he said, referring to the blizzard now howling above them. "For sticks."

"Well, they're more than just sticks. They're markers. In case we get lost."

"…markers."

"Yeah, climbing markers. Think of them like breadcrumbs. We have this huge rope, right? So we tie ourselves to either end. You know where we're going so you'll be in front, and that means you can carry them. I follow after you. Every time I get to one of your markers, I'll stop and that'll be your signal to stick another one in."

"Hmm…" Hans said. "So even if it's a complete whiteout, we'll be able to find our way back. Not half bad… Did your mountain man teach you that?"

Anna glared at him darkly. "His _name_ is Kristoff."

"Christian. My apologies."

"Kris_toff_," Anna corrected.

She knew Hans was messing it up on purpose by the smirk he gave her in response.

"Very well. I'll risk my life for your sticks."

Anna smiled at him cheerfully as he left their camp with a half-hearted scowl. She waited in silence before trying to talk with Sitron, but the horse was already asleep.

She didn't have to wait too much longer. Hans had made his opinion about gathering sticks in the middle of a blizzard at night clear, and he got the task over with as quickly as possible.

Anna nodded in approval as he dumped the sticks at her feet and collapsed next to her.

"I suppose these are acceptable," she said, examining one in detail. Her heart swelled at the dirty look Hans gave her in response. She grabbed a couple and tossed them in his lap. "Here. Help me snap off the branches from the bottom of these."

"I thought you said you wanted all the leaves you could get," Hans muttered.

"At the top, yeah. At the bottom they just make it harder to stick 'em into the ground."

Hans shook his head, but got to work. With two pair of hands, the task went quickly.

"We'll have to take turns sleeping tonight," she heard Hans say as they finished stripping the last few. "We can't let the fire go out. Do you want to take the first watch or…"

"I'll take it," Anna said.

Even after their cooperation of the past two days, she was still uncomfortable falling asleep next to him. Not only that, but a frisson of anticipation coursed through her.

By this time tomorrow they'd have the stone. They'd have what they came for and this sudden winter would be just one more thing of the past. If Anna tried to go to sleep now, she just knew she'd be lying awake for hours.

Hans, it seemed, didn't care about the order of their shifts. He simply turned to his side and fell asleep against Sitron right then and there. She supposed it made sense. The three of them were curled up next to each other and the fire was roaring just a couple feet away… it was as warm and cozy as they were going to get that night.

That left Anna alone with nothing but the fire for companionship.

The night dragged on.

Anna wondered what Elsa… what Kristoff was doing at that very second. Had Aunt Primrose's message gotten through to Arendelle? If it had, Anna could just picture it now. Elsa would be battling her way across the seas to get to Corona. She'd be using her powers of course, freezing waves before they got too huge and wild to capsize her ship.

Or would that just end up creating icebergs?

Anna prayed that — wherever she was — Elsa was safe. Maybe the message hadn't gotten through yet and Elsa had no idea the blizzard even existed. Maybe the most serious thing on her mind was yet another petty argument with her ministers over ice delivery regulations.

She much preferred that to the thought of Elsa surrounded by deadly icebergs. Even if it meant that Anna was on her own.

Well. Not completely on her own.

Anna glanced over at Hans. He was sleeping peacefully, his back moving slightly as he breathed and his lips parted ever so slightly. His sideburns, which used to be trimmed with the utmost precision, had grown rather ragged over the past several days. Stubble coated the bottom half of his face, painting a ghostly outline of mustache and beard. She hadn't even noticed it until now. Anna wondered what it'd be like to…

She suddenly had a silly urge to pinch Hans' nose and see how he'd react.

She quashed it down.

That sort of behavior and the reaction she half-hoped for belonged to the "old" Hans. The "old" Hans that wasn't even the "old" Hans because there'd never _been _any "old" Hans, just the "fake" Hans and she hated the "fake" Hans.

And the "real" Hans.

Would hate for as long as she lived.

Anna crossed her arms and turned back towards the fire. It was going to be a long shift.


	8. Act One: Part Eight

Since there was no way of telling time, Anna just stayed awake as long as physically possible. She held out until her eyes were drooping more often than not, and then nudged Hans with the edge of her boot.

He stirred, vehemently mumbling something in his sleep about his brother Georg. Anna turned the nudge into a kick and he jolted awake, swearing.

"Your turn for watch," she said flatly.

Hans grumbled something about true princesses being nice and gentle, but she ignored the bait and flopped over onto her side. But despite her exhaustion, Anna couldn't seem to get comfortable.

She squirmed continuously. The permeating cold that had helped her stay alert through her long watch was now working against her.

"Knock it off," she heard Hans say after her tenth adjustment. "You're being annoying."

"Can't help it," Anna muttered. "It's too cold."

She spent another five minutes shifting.

"Oh, for the love of—" Hans said. "Take off your cloak."

Anna turned to stare at him.

"Wait, what? Why?"

"Just do it."

Anna eyed him suspiciously, searching for some sort of explanation in his face, but found none. Slowly she unclasped her outer garment.

"Now lean forward," he said.

Anna barely had time to think about what he was doing before Hans yanked on the edge that was closest to him and deftly wrapped her cloak around the two of them, pulling them closer together as he did so.

Her face burned red.

She was pressed up against him now. Too close. Far too close. But she was _also _suddenly much warmer. Princes, it seemed, had their uses.

Even the traitorous, backstabbing ones.

It was hard to turn beneath the cloak without pulling it off either one of them. She experimented a bit and found that most comfortable position would be facing forward with her head resting lightly on his shoulder for support.

Anna instantly vowed to sleep sitting upright for the rest of the night and deal with any resulting neck soreness in the morning. But even as she vowed it, she found her head slowly drooping to the left.

"Just go to sleep already," Hans said, his voice rumbling against her chest. "You'll need your rest for the morning. Either we'll save the world or we'll fail miserably."

Right. If everything went according to plan, it would be their last morning without the stone. After that they'd set off again, heading home…

"What are you going to do afterwards?" Anna asked.

She glanced up to see Hans pondering her question as the flames crackled in front of them. He shrugged.

"No clue," he said. "I suppose I'll just be locked up again though."

"That's not right," she mumbled.

Hans stared at her.

"Not right?" he said somewhat incredulously. "I tried to steal your kingdom from you, Anna. Or did you forget that already?"

"No!" Anna said. She sucked in a deep breath. "It's just that… Like, prisons and stuff are supposed to reform people. Make people pay for what they've done. Make them better." Anna sighed. "I don't know. I mean, I guess this could be a way of paying. Don't you think?"

Hans blinked at her.

"Perhaps…" he finally said.

The conversation drifted into silence. Anna yawned. Against her brain's wishes, her head tilted and then slowly drooped down onto Hans' shoulder. This time she let it stay there. After all, it was a rather perfect height. It'd be a shame to waste it.

"But if you did get let out for this," she murmured, coming back around to her original question. "Honestly. What would you do?"

"Why do you care?"

"Who said I cared?" Anna grumbled. "I'm just… just bored, that's all. Not like there's anything else to talk about."

"Mmm, sure."

Anna could just picture his smug smile. She elbowed him hard enough to get an "ow!" in response, and she smiled herself.

"Seriously though?" Hans said. He sighed. "I have no idea. Other than leave the Southern Isles, that is. Wouldn't have to give that a second thought. But after that? Your guess would be as good as mine. But… I think I've had enough of royalty. Maybe I'd wander off somewhere into the wilderness. Try to find Erich."

"Which one was Erich again?" Anna asked, knowing it was one of his brothers but failing to remember anything else.

"The wanderer. Our family's black sheep."

"No, that's not right," Anna mumbled.

"Excuse you," Hans said, sounding mildly affronted. "I think I know my own brothers."

"No, no… Not that." Anna smiled sleepily. "I remember him now. He's your family's brown sheep. You're the black one."

Hans snorted.

"Fair enough," he said. "You've got me there."

"But really," — Anna scrunched her nose as she thought back to his earlier words — "after this, you'd leave your castle for more wilderness?"

Anna could feel his chest puff out in protest. "I think I've proven I can handle myself," he said indignantly. "Furthermore, if I was free, I'd be able to choose when I traveled. And I think after these past two blizzards, I'm going to be a solely summer man from now on."

"I suppose a true summer for once would make things sliiiiightly easier," Anna said. "You could actually see where you're going for starters."

"No scavenging wolves at your heels for that matter," Hans said with a wistful sigh.

"Just think. You could walk a mile and still feel your toes at the end of it."

"What are toes again?"

Anna sleepily giggled despite herself. She closed her eyes, letting herself drink in what meager warmth should could from the fire and the surrounding body heat. She flinched as she felt a sudden pressure on the top of her head. Her eyes fluttered open and she vaguely realized that Hans was now resting his own head on top of hers.

She should've told him to shove off, but it seemed slightly hypocritical. Besides, she was far too tired at the moment for that level of effort. Far too tired to deal with any sort of inevitable protests or passive-aggressive remarks.

At least that was the excuse she told herself.

Anna closed her eyes again and listened to the steady rhythm of the fire.

"Why did you do it?" she suddenly asked.

The words echoed in the small confines of the shelter, an uneasy new tension piercing the air. He didn't respond.

"We would've welcomed you, you know," she continued, cracking her eyes barely open so that the world was still fogged by her lashes. "I mean, maybe not Elsa at first. She wasn't really in the welcoming mood for anybody. But… eventually. We would've."

She was met with more silence. And then…

"Because I'm a soulless monster," he said with a mocking snort.

Anna's eyes opened as she frowned.

"Isn't that what you wanted to hear?" Hans asked.

"No! I wanted you to…" Anna bit her tongue before she said something he'd misinterpret. She sighed. "I don't want anything. Well, no… I want the truth."

"The truth?" Hans chuckled. "The truth is that I'm a foolish prince who's never been good at anything in life. No position… Nothing to offer… So I've had to learn to take things for myself."

Something about the blatant contempt he'd set aside for himself itched beneath her skin.

"That's not true."

"Hmm? Defending the villain so soon?"

"No!" Anna said quickly. Ugh, she'd just known he'd twist what she was trying to say. "I'm not talking emotionally or anything. I mean, who knows what's going on up there." She gestured weakly towards his head even though her hand was trapped out of sight beneath her cloak. "It's just… you're actually good at a lot of things. We got reports, you know, afterwards. About when I left you in charge? You really took hold of the situation, kept things organized, distributed supplies where they were needed… Even if it was all just an act, you did… good."

Hans shifted, turning his face towards Anna. The light from fire reflected off it. His eyes were soft as they stared at her, his cheekbones sharp and prominent from the shadows.

Anna inhaled shortly.

When it came right down to it, Anna was happy with Kristoff. Sure they got on each other's nerves every once in awhile, but what couple didn't? Her current boyfriend was cute and handsome in his own adorable way… even if she had to literally _push_ him into the bathtub at times because he was convinced he didn't smell _that_ bad.

Yes.

At the end of the day, Anna was quite satisfied with what she had.

But _God_… Hans was gorgeous.

Anna swallowed nervously at the somewhat unconscious confession. At the same time, she couldn't deny it or forget it either.

Ugh. Nope.

Life was unfair. So, so terribly unfair.

Anna averted her eyes as the silence grew longer and more awkward. "I just think," she continued, now talking to his neck. "Maybe if you focused on doing stuff like that, then people would genuinely like you for you. You'd find your place, escape your brothers' shadows, and then…"

Anna trailed off, not knowing exactly where she was trying to head towards. She bit her lip, twiddling her thumbs beneath the heavy cloak.

"You really think I can change?" Hans asked, his voice soft and full of… something.

Ann glanced up.

Big mistake.

He was too close, his gaze too intense. His full attention was locked onto her and she had nowhere to run.

Anna's breath hitched, her heart beating fast. She could feel her cheeks growing exponentially warmer. The crackle of the fire drowned out any other thought as his face drew closer, and then — ever so lightly - their lips touched in the softest of brushes.

A slight tingling swept through her whole body. Anna closed her eyes and leaned forward to—

Anna froze.

What was she doing?

Oh no. No no no no.

She jerked backwards, eyes wide and mortified. Her face felt ready to burn itself off. Anna turned her attention towards the fire, towards the walls of their makeshift shelter, towards Sitron.

Anywhere but Hans.

"I- I should really get to sleep," she eventually managed. It sounded lame even to her own ears.

Hans remained silent. Anna didn't know whether that or an actual response from him would've been worse.

She shifted underneath their cloak until her back was facing him. Her face was slightly colder at this angle, and there was an awkward tug as the fabric was stretched to its limits, but she didn't care about that anymore.

Ugh! Anna couldn't believe she'd actually just let him—!

If one thing was clear, it was that she was _never_ going down that path again. Hans was probably playing her again. Using her for… something. Anna had no idea what that something was, but she was sure there was a 'something.'

After all, that was all he'd ever seen her as. A useful tool to further his own ambitions. A tool that could be easily used and manipulated and then disposed of.

_Elsa was preferable of course. But no one was getting anywhere with her._

Anna shivered, trying to both embrace and block out the memory. Whatever he said now, whatever challenges they ended up facing together… Nothing could erase those words.

Nothing could erase that day.

Her eyes started to prick with tears. Anna blinked them away before they made her face even colder.

She was better than this. Stronger than this.

But no matter how much she repeated that to herself, her heart was still pounding wildly and she couldn't quite figure out how to slow it.

* * *

"Alright! Final climb!" hollered Anna enthusiastically over the howling gales of the blizzard. She was both running high on adrenaline and over-compensating for the miserable wreck her mind was in. "You ready for this?!"

Hans turned in mid-pack preparation to Sitron, who snorted. Hans pushed his muzzle playfully away.

"Says the horse who gets to sit here and wait for us to get back," Hans said with a wry grimace.

Anna opened her mouth to tease him and then closed it.

The atmosphere was light that morning. Too light.

Both of them were acting like the events of the previous night had never happened. Hans wasn't because, well, Anna had no idea why Hans did anything, and she wasn't because… well, if he wasn't going to bring it up, she wasn't about to.

Overall, Anna was grateful for that.

She and Hans were traveling buddies. Adventures companions. Something.

They already had more than enough painful history between them. There wasn't any need to go and make it more painful.

Anna took a few experimental steps around their small shelter, adjusting to the new weight and feel of the rope tied across her waist as she waited for Hans to haul the pack that Sitron had been previously carrying up and over his own shoulders.

"Alright," he called. "Ready when you are."

Anna grinned and pushed past the branches they'd been using as a pseudo-doorway. An icy blast instantly wiped it from her face.

The blizzard had fully settled over them, thicker and sharper than in any of the days past. The wind and snow stung her face, making her cheeks burn.

Hans had been right; Sitron was in no place to make snarky horse huffs.

"You first!" Anna yelled, sweeping her hands uphill as Hans made his way out of their shelter.

The white air blurred most of his facial details, but Anna thought she could see a hint of a scowl as he stepped past her. Then they were off.

Or rather, they were off at trudging crawl.

Her ankle still throbbed, but luckily the pain was nowhere near as bad as it'd been the past several days. She stamped slowly up the side of the mountain, following as best she could in Hans' deep footsteps.

Hans was carrying the markers and planted them as he went. Every time she'd reach one, she'd stop walking and wait for the inevitable tug as Hans nearly pulled her off her feet. Her system seemed to be working though. She'd wait by the half-stripped branch in the snow until she felt another, gentler tug which was her signal to start moving again. Every forty or so paces, she'd come to the next one and then the whole cycle would start over.

Anna had no idea how long they continued up like that. The sun too was weak to filter through the sotrm clouds, giving no inclination of the time. The entire world was the exact same shade of white.

There was no sky…

No ground…

Only her own body and the rope that extended up and out of sight hinted at there being anything else in existence.

Soon enough she was able to make out a faint shape in the distance. Its outline grew clearer as she approached. Anna squinted and frowned.

It was Hans.

She looked down; there was enormous amount of slack in the rope. For whatever reason he'd stopped moving and now she was catching up to him. Anna picked up the extra rope, loosely coiling it as she approached.

"What is it?" she yelled when he was close enough to hear her through the wind.

Hans was roughly standing in one place, but his feet kept shuffling back and forth as though he couldn't get them to agree with any sort of command coming from his brain. His torso kept twisting as well, like he was trying to look in all four main directions at once. Anna's stomach suddenly felt extremely queasy…

"I… I can't…" he called out, struggling intensely for any sort of words.

As she drew closer still, Anna could see his eyes, wide and pain-stricken. His brow was creased in frustration. Never before had she seen him look so…

Lost.

"What do you mean you can't! Can't _what?!_" she practically screamed, even though she dreaded the answer.

"I… Everything in the book was all riddles! I solved each and every one, but now I can't see anything that describes…" He cursed beneath his breath. "I can't see anything at all! It's hopeless!" He suddenly glared at Anna. "If you'd just been a couple days earlier—!"

"Whoa! Whoa!" Anna exclaimed. "When did this suddenly become _my_ fault! I've been traveling non-stop for the past two weeks! You'd still be locked up in your tower if it wasn't for me!"

He continued glaring at Anna… and then all his energy seemed to rush out of him. His legs crumpled and he fell knees down into the snow.

"You're right," she barely heard him say above the wind. "I have no one to blame but myself."

Anna waited for him to say something else, to _do_ something else, but the prince remained catatonic in the snow. The wind continued to whip around them, spelling certain death if they didn't do something quick.

Anna scrunched up her fists, taking a deep breath as her chest filled with rage.

"Get up! Get up right now!" she roared. "I am _not_ dying on a mountain side with you! You wanna live? Stop blaming me, stop blaming yourself, and just start _trusting_ me for once! And that starts with these so-called "riddles." How many do we have left? Just the one? Hit me!"

Hans squinted at her in disbelief. "_You're_ going to solve the next riddle?" he deadpanned.

"Well, since you've apparently given up or whatever… yeah! I am!"

Hans sighed and then slowly picked himself up. Anna shivered in the relentless storm.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," he said. He closed his eyes and began to recite from memory: "The ravens watch o'er vale below. Not wind, nor rain, nor freezing snow, Make dent upon their noble beaks. Both guide and warning to he who seeks."

Anna stared upwards, deep in concentration as the wind continued to roar past them.

"Alright! I'm going to be really honest with you!" Anna eventually said. "I have _no _idea what that means!"

"For the love of—" Hans smacked his forehead with his gloved palm. "Obviously its talking about stone markers! Stones either shaped or carved like ravens! Besides, I never said that I had trouble with any of the riddles themselves! It's finding them that's the problem! I had us make camp at that slight bend in the river, so they should've been straight up, but I can't bloody see my hands let alone—"

"Stop! Stop complaining about stuff we can't change! It's not going to get us any closer to that cave! We just need to…" Anna paused as her words got ahead of her thoughts. "Wait here," she said, grabbing the bag of sticks from him.

"Wait, where are you—"

Anna ignored the prince and tromped off to her right. She kept going until she felt the rope around her waist pull tight. She stopped and peered off through the snow.

Nothing.

She frowned and continued walking in a full circle, using the rope as her tether, moving uphill and then downhill and then back up again, searching for any sign of anything. She eventually came to a stop where she'd started.

Her earlier footprints were already being swallowed up by the falling snow.

Grinding her teeth in frustration but refusing to let her spirits be dampened, Anna slammed one of the sticks in the ground and then yanked her way forward, feeling Hans stumble distantly behind her.

"What are you doing?!" Hans yelled as Anna placed her second marker. He had chased after her, closing the distance between them; the rope trailed out uncoiled behind him.

"What you stopped," she said simply.

Hans reached for the pack in her arms, but Anna dodged. He frowned.

"You're hurt," he said sternly.

"Yeah. And if I stop moving, I'll be dead."

"Anna, we can't see a foot in front of our noses. There's a full vertical mile from the base of this mountain to the top. What honestly makes you think we'll be able to find the cave?!"

"You said it should be straight up from the camp, right? Well, a vertical mile's still a straight line! So we're bound to hit it eventually!"

"Anna, that's not how that— This is crazy! _You're _crazy!"

"If that's what it takes to keep me going, so be it!" Anna said with a small mocking salute. She was running off a dangerous combination of mild hysteria, adrenaline, and glee now. It frightened her, but Anna held onto the cocktail of emotions; it was the only thing still keeping her going. She'd be the mad girl who'd drag a complete stranger up to a clock tower for synchronized, woodwork dancing if that's what it'd take for both of them to survive this.

She started trudging up the mountain again before Hans could argue further.

They kept going, up and up and up. It was even slower than before. Anna wasn't as good as Hans at punching her feet down through the ice-crusted snow, and at every marker stop she'd wander on her tether a bit in both directions, searching…

There were only a few more sticks left in the pack when she spotted a faint smudge of grey out of the corner of her eye. It was tiny and blurry and when she turned to look it was gone, but it was something. Anna finished planting her marker and changed directions to head towards it.

As she got close enough to make it out, her hope fell.

The smudge was just a sharp rock, tall and pointy enough to stick out above the current snow fall by a foot. Anna was about to turn back around when something made her pause.

Sure, it was just a rock, but it was also the first thing that had caught her attention in hours. A speck of grey in a sea of white. She might as well examine out a bit more. Besides, they were quickly running out of markers; there wasn't much left they could explore.

So she continued trudging closer to the rock. It was a very triangular rock.

"What now?" Hans said.

He'd come up behind her again. Anna heard him let out a groan as she knelt down.

"Really?" he said sarcastically. "I know we're desperate, but if we're going to stop to examine every rock on this mountain…"

Anna ignored him, running a gloved hand over the granite surface… and felt a distinct ridged pattern?

Her eyes widened.

"We're never going to find it!" Hans was continuing to shout. "Ugh, I knew it! I just knew it! I never should've called—"

"Shut up!" Anna snapped.

She ripped off her glove. The wind blasted against her bare hand, but her fingers were past the point of numbness. She needed more dexterity, to really confirm that, yes, there were ridges with smooth, oval-shaped…

Carved feathers decorating the very tip of a wing.

Her breathe froze.

"This is it," she whispered.

Somehow despite the howl and noise of the storm, Hans seemed to have heard her.

"What?"

"This is it!" she said, her face alight in rapture and voice cracking with snow-battered elation. "This rock! It's one of the ravens' wings! The cave! This is it! We're here! It's right below us!"

It took several second for Anna's words to penetrate Hans' brain and understanding to dawn. Once he did, the change was instantaneous. His face morphed. Gone was the hopelessness, the frustration, the vulnerability. In its place was a renewed sense of vigor, triumph, and — flashing so quickly Anna wondered if she'd just imagined it — the same sense of unrestrained conquest that'd consumed him as he stood over Elsa, his sword poised high… ready to strike…

All at once Anna was back on the fjord.

The storm was the same as it'd been then. Her hands… No, she couldn't feel her hands anymore. Her heart ached, heavy and cold, threatening to drop straight through into her lungs. The ice was creeping up over her limbs and into her bones.

Hans was about to murder Elsa and she couldn't move…

"Anna!"

Anna snapped out of her memories to see Hans vigorously digging in the snow with their ice axe. He looked up at her expectantly.

"I need your help! Come on!" he yelled, giving a sharp nod at the pack in her hands.

Right. The present. She had to keep herself in the present.

Anna rummaged around in the pack until her hands closed around a tiny shovel. It was better suited for gardening or latrine digging than full-on snow excavation, but it was better than using her hands. She set the pack down and got to work.

It seemed for every foot of snow they managed to dig up, the sky laid several new inches down, but they kept tunneling. They uncovered the rest of the wings first, then a stoic, avian face… and then, after shifting their dig a little to the side…

"The entrance!" Anna cried.

"I can see that," Hans scoffed.

They quickly punch out a hole just wide enough to slip through. Anna peered into it, but couldn't see anything but blackness. She shivered.

"After you," Hans said with a sweep of his hand.

Anna frowned. "We don't know how deep it goes though. What if it just goes down and down and down…?"

"That's what the rope's for," Hans said smugly, giving her a slight tap on the waist. Anna blushed slightly and punched him lightly in return. She grabbed their pack and strapped it back on.

"Just be ready to catch, okay?" Anna said.

She eyed the black hole, mildly queasy. And then — before she could think about it too much — she slipped into the darkness.

Hans caught the rope before she gained too much momentum and slowly lowered her down. She hadn't travelled very far at all before she felt her boots hit the bottom. When she was settled Anna looked up back up. A patch of light streaming down from the dark, snow-packed wall; it was only about seven or so feet up, the height of a regular doorway.

"It's okay!" Anna called out. "It's not too far down! You can jump if you just bend your knees!"

She waited blindly in the cave, peeling her gloves off and rubbing her hands in an attempt to regain some of their feeling. She was starting to doubt her fingers would ever work properly again. Half a minute later, Hans slid down, knocking a bit of snow loose, but otherwise landing gracefully on his feet.

Anna tried looking around the rest of the cave, but the light came from the small hole at the entrance and it didn't illuminate much. God only knew how long they had until the storm reburied it. She searched in the pack until she found their spark rocks, grabbed one of the few remaining sticks, and made a small torch.

It worked but wouldn't last more than ten minutes.

Anna glanced at Hans; the prince was untying the rope from his waist. Right, she should probably do that. She passed him the torch after his hands were free and did the same.

"After you, milady," he said when she was done.

He gestured forwards into the gloom.

Anna snatched the torch back from him, took a deep breath, and made her way forward.

As far as she could tell so far, the cave looked like any other regular, ordinary cave. If it hadn't been for the giant stone raven guarding its entrance, she would've doubted this was the right place.

It was kind of warm though. That was nice.

At the same time, the slow thaw caused Anna to realize just how wet she'd gotten. Ice and snow melted, turning her cloak and clothes into a soggy mess. Her boots had gained several pounds and made squelching noises as she walked.

A gust of air suddenly blasted through the chamber, blowing out the torch.

Anna froze as a line of runes shone brilliantly white across the floor. They streamed from the base of the left wall to the right, creating a solid line of light.

A line she'd just stepped over.

There was a soft groaning from somewhere beyond her vision, quickly rising in volume and pitch to become a terrible screech as the veins beneath her skin began to glow an icy blue.

"H-Hans?" Anna asked.

She watched him, her heart pounding in fright, as he bit his lower lip in pensive thought. She started to reach forward to shake him out of whatever mental fortress he'd entered, and then he stepped over the line as well.

At once his own veins glowed red-orange, their light sprawling across his neck and face and blending up into the color of his hair.

The noise grew even louder. The walls were starting to tremble.

"Hans, what—?"

"Ssh!" he commanded, pressing his hand to her mouth. He closed his eyes. "Very important. I need to think."

The trembling intensified, as did Anna's nervousness. What was it his riddle had said about warnings again? She was about to order him to hurry it up when his eyes snapped open again.

"Your knife," he said tersely, holding out his hand.

"W-what?"

"I need it now," he said. When she hesitated, confused, he looked her dead in the eye. "Do you trust me?"

Anna's breath hitched.

She unstrapped the knife from her belt and passed it over. Hans withdrew the blade and grabbed her wrist, sharply wrenching it towards him.

"Hans, what are you— Ow!"

Anna cried out in pain as he slashed open the front of her palm. She stared in shock as he did the same to his own, and then clasped their two hands together. She bit her tongue as the wound began to throb. The colors of the blood beneath their skin slowly mingled, icy blue and burnt orange swirling into a strange, olive-y green tinge.

All the lights plunged out and the noise vanished.

Several seconds later, the ceiling of the cave flickered into life. Thousands of blue-green dots shone softly down from its surface like painted constellations.

Anna felt another sharp sting and looked down to see that Hans had let go of her hand. He stood a foot or so away, cutting off long strips from the bottom of his shirt.

"Told you I couldn't do it without you," he said. He nodded towards her hand and Anna held it out for him to bandage. She tried to ignore the delicate way his fingers handled hers as they brushed against each other, wincing only slightly when he pressed the cloth against her wound. "Sorry. But I _did_ tell you that there'd be a protective enchantment. That should be the only one though."

"Should?"

"Well, the book didn't mention any others and it hasn't let us down this far."

Anna actually took some comfort in that, little as it was.

Even though the ceiling lights illuminated a clear path forward, she had no idea how far they went or how long they'd last, so she dropped the blown-out torch back into her pack to save for later. Hans was still attempting to bandage his own hand; he'd sliced open his dominant hand and was having some difficulty.

She watched him struggle for several seconds before giving into temptation.

"Here. Let me do it," she said, snatching the cloth from him. She kept her eyes away from his face and focused on his palm as she wrapped the cloth around it. She'd have to make sure both of them got _actual _treatment later. If they managed to survive all this, and then keeled over from a basic infection… oh man, her ghost would be pissed.

"Thank you," she heard Hans say as she tied the bandage off.

Anna's cheeks flushed.

"It's nothing," she mumbled. A couple strands of hair had escaped her braids, and she brushed them behind her ear. She glanced in the direction the lights seemed to be leading them. "We should get going."

Hans said nothing, but followed as she bounded off down the path. After a little bit, Anna slowed down so that he could catch up and walk side by side with her.

She told herself that it was simply nice being able to see your companions as you walked with them. A common courtesy. That was all.

The cave continued to twist and turn deep into the mountain. Despite the dampness of her clothes, Anna made her way forward with an eager spring in every step, swinging her arms back and forth with exuberance. Every so often her hands would knock into Hans' on the backswings and she'd utter a small apology. For once he didn't seem to mind.

Eventually, Anna was able to make out a rather different sort of glow from up ahead. It seemed brighter and bigger and slightly more… yellow than blue-green.

She skipped ahead to make it out better, letting go of Hans' hand as she did so. She hadn't even realized when her fingers had slipped between his.

Yep. It was _definitely_ a different type of glow than the current stuff on the ceiling.

Anna started to turn back around to tell Hans—


	9. Act One: Part Ten

Anna groaned.

Her head was throbbing like someone had just bashed the back open with a sledgehammer.

_"Anna…"_

The voice trickled in from somewhere distant. She scrunched her eyes tightly together and tried to ignore it, but it kept repeating itself, growing increasingly louder and annoying.

"Anna."

She groaned again, finally mustering the strength to blearily blink open her eyes. The world was hazy, its lines non-existent and colors shifting. It made her head spin and her stomach heave. She pitched sideways, her gloved hands clawing against the ground in an futile attempt to hang on.

"Anna!"

There it was again. A worried, familiar voice…

The world finally righted itself.

Hans was leaning over her, one hand wrapped around her side while the other gently brushed her bangs from her face.

Anna was sitting with her back against the wall of the cave. Up above, the constellation-like lights still cast their phosphorescent light. The far end of the cave was still bathed in whatever mysterious golden glow awaited them.

She shifted and winced as pain tangled its way through her head like a giant ball of roots.

"What happened?" she croaked, barely managing the second word before dissolving into a coughing fit. Her throat was parched; it was hard to breathe…

"Another earthquake," Hans said. He reached in their pack for a small skin of water and held it out to Anna who drank messily. "No idea whether it was from the storm or a leftover from the enchantment we broke. Whatever it was, it knocked several rocks loose. One hit you on the back of the head before I could warn you." He took a deep breath. "You fell… and… you didn't get up. I… I was…" Whatever Hans had been about to say, it was lost forever to the silence of the cave. He cleared his throat. "But you're awake, which is good. Assuming you can still walk, we should keep moving. Before anything else happens."

Anna paused halfway through wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

She glanced around the cave. She couldn't remember whether she'd felt a tremor or not, but there were a bunch of small and medium-sized rocks scattered around now that hadn't been there before. That and the golden glow of their ultimate destination still shone in the distance, pure and unaltered.

The thought that Hans had simply waited for her to wake up instead of running ahead to claim his prize was weird. Weird… but not entirely unwelcome either.

"You're right," Anna said. "Moving is a good idea." She started to stand up, all too conscious of the way Hans hovered next to her in apparent concern. Her head still throbbed, but she did her best to ignore it.

They'd made it this far… to be so close…

Anna took a step and nearly fell all over again, her left knee exploding with pain. The bone felt cracked, although more likely it was just bruised; she must've landed on it when she fell. She inhaled shakily and started to shuffle her way forward, careful to keep most of her weight on her opposite knee.

"Do… Do you need me to carry you?" Hans asked, preemptively holding out his hands.

Anna stared at them and then at the muscular arms they were attached to. She bit her lip. It was rather tempting…

She shook her head.

"I got this." She continued to limp forward, each frail step taking her closer and closer to the glow. "If all this earthquake nonsense starts up again though, you have my official permission to toss me over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes and run," she said with a smirk.

"Permission noted."

Anna glanced at the prince, expecting a wry grin or some smug smile in return, but his face was blank and sobering. Her grin died.

She turned her attention forward again, puzzled.

Perhaps it was nerves. Perhaps Hans wasn't _as_ sure about all the mysterious book's claims as he thought he'd been. For not the first time, Anna wondered what would happen if they reached that final turn and found… well, nothing.

Technically it wasn't a very hard question. They'd die, plain and simple.

If the cold of the blizzard didn't kill them, the lack of food eventually would. Anna absent-mindedly wondered if they'd face the end together or if Hans would kill her and take up cannibalism in his desperation.

She shuddered in disgust at the thought.

The glow grew brighter still.

It was agonizing how slow she had to take it, and it was clear that Hans was getting restless as well. She could see it in the way his fingers twitched as he walked. Again, she debated the pros of him carrying her before deciding _again_ that no, she was going to have to get down the mountain eventually. Better to walk it off now.

They finally turned the last bend and Anna gasped.

The tunnel had led them to a small circular cavern with no other exits. In its center, a rather rough and unremarkable stone pedestal rose out of the ground. On it, bathing the room in a shimmering sheet of gold, rested a glowing, well…

A glowing rock.

"I think that's it," Anna said, pointing at it.

"Your powers of observation astound me."

She peered at the glowing rock and took a couple steps closer.

"It's a bit… small," she said, rotating her hands for measurement. It was about the size of a child's head. "You really think it has the power to get rid of this winter?"

"Would I have dragged us all the way here if I didn't?"

Anna rolled her eyes at him. "Point taken," she said.

She approached the pedestal slowly, careful and on high alert for any secret booby traps, but the room was silent. Even her footsteps were muffled as she made her way towards the pedestal.

Power or not, the stone certainly was otherworldly. Other shiny things had a surface. Even crystals that you could see through were still… _there_. The stone, by contrast, seemed to be made of pure light. Pure light that had somehow been captured and then squeezed and squeezed into something stone-like.

As she stared at it from straight above, Anna wasn't sure she'd even be able to grab it. It seemed more likely that her fingers would just pass through.

She reached out a hand to try and then paused.

Bad things happened to people who just touched things. Innocent and lovely as it seemed, this stone was no different.

"Something wrong?" Hans asked as if by cue, coming over to stand next to her.

Anna bit her lip.

"How do I know this stone does what you say it does?" Anna asked. "What if it's a stone that kills people? Or no! What if it does what you say it does but there's one more secret protection that zaps me into small explody bits" — she mimed the explosion with waggling fingers — "and then as I'm falling into little chunks on the floor you're free to pick it up and waltz right out of here?!"

Hans gave her a Look.

"If you're that concerned," he said with a sigh. "_I'll _pick it up."

He reached out to grab the stone with both hands.

"Wait!" Anna yelled.

Hans flinched. He remained frozen in place, his fingers barely an inch from the stone's surface. Anna watched as he raised an eyebrow at her, annoyance carved clear across his face.

"What- What if it actually gives magical powers to first person who touches it and you suddenly gain all the cosmic forces of the universe?"

Hans stared at her.

"And then with that you would fly back to our kingdoms and leave me here all sad and unmagical?"

He continued to stare at her.

"Anna," he said. "You're being ridiculous. If _you_ can't pick up the stone and _I _can't pick up the stone, what do you suggest we do?"

Anna pondered that. Then it hit her.

"We pick it up together," she said with a grin.

"Together?"

"Yep! Either we both die or we both get powers or — better yet — nothing happens at all."

"You know… of the three, I'm fine with either the powers or the nothing, but I fail to see how both of us dying accomplishes anything."

"We're picking it up together," she said firmly.

"Alright! Alright!" Hans stared at Anna seriously. "Together then."

They stood across from each other, their hands placed at equal distance from the stone. Anna looked up at Hans. He seemed a lot more self-assured than she did. She hoped her paranoia was just that.

Paranoia.

"Ready?" Anna said. "One… two… three!"

Her hands snapped out and she scrunched her eyes shut, fearing the worst. Her fingers landed on cool, solid stone. She held them there in place for one second… two…

Slowly Anna cracked open one eyelid. Then the other.

The room was exactly how she'd last left it. She and Hans were both holding onto the stone and nothing had happened.

"I don't know," Hans said, glancing at the stone. "I might be getting cosmic energy as we speak? I'm not sure. Any idea what it's supposed to feel like?"

"Oh, you can just shut it," Anna muttered. She yanked the stone out of his hands, stumbling backwards slightly at the weight. "We're safe. We have the stone. That's the important part."

They had the stone.

Anna looked down at where it lay cradled in her hands.

Was that really it?

She'd expected something a little more climatic to be honest. But at the same time, she wasn't about to argue with the universe to chuck some more snowballs at them just because things were starting to feel easy.

"Here," Anna said holding the stone out to Hans. "Hold it for a second."

She passed it to him and swung their pack off her shoulders. There weren't too many things in it, but she dumped them out all the same so that stone wouldn't crush them. Hans gently lowered the stone into the pack and Anna piled their supplies back on top of it. Without the stone to cast its light, the room was a lot darker.

After tying up the top flap, Anna hauled it back onto her shoulders with a great heave. The new weight pulled her back slightly and she teetered a bit as she fought to keep her balance. Her knee continued to throb.

"Are you sure you got it?" Hans asked in a tone that blatantly presumed she didn't.

"Yeah," she managed, though slightly breathless at the exertion. "It's all downhill from here, right? Well, literally downhill. Not metaphorically downhill. Well, I guess it could be metaphorically downhill but, I mean, I really hope it isn't and—"

"Anna," Hans said, interrupting her in mid-ramble.

"Hmm?" She blinked at him, waiting for the inevitable jibe.

He stared at her briefly and then snorted. In the haziness of the cave, she thought she saw him smile.

"Let's go home."

* * *

Anna blinked in the harsh afternoon sunlight. Whatever magic the stone possessed, it was already starting to do its job. The wall of snow that'd blocked the entrance of the cave had fully melted, although the mountain itself was still blanketed in the stuff.

To be honest, even after reaching the cave, finding the stone… she hadn't quite fully expected it to actually _work_.

"You doubted me?"

Anna belatedly realized she'd said that last part out loud and blushed.

"Who wouldn't?" she murmured.

She gazed out across the horizon. The blizzard had dissipated where they were standing, but she could see still it raging on to the north. White billowing clouds stretched their way from the forest floor up and up into the sky as far as her eyes could track. They crashed against an invisible wall that curved inwards in either direction, creating a protective bubble with her and Hans at the very center.

Anna readjusted her pack, the weight of the stone inside simultaneously reassuring and unsettling.

If all they had to do was walk and let the stone take care of the rest… It was scarcely believable, but hey.

That was magic for you.

"You know," Anna said cheerfully. "I don't know if I can manage the idea of _not_ traveling through a storm of death with hungry wolves on our tail and God only knows what else. Think we'll be able to handle it?"

She glanced sideways at him when she didn't get a reply.

Hans was staring out at the vertical wall of clouds, his face blank and eyes distant. If he'd heard her, he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"Hans?" Anna asked. Her brow creased slightly with worry.

"We should get moving," he said, not looking at her as he spoke. "Once the snow fully melts, it will make it harder to get down."

Anna's eyes widened. A sudden tightness formed in her chest as Hans brushed past her, carelessly knocking aside her shoulder.

Something was wrong.

She lingered in the mouth of the cave, her fingers clutched tight around the straps holding her pack — and the heavy stone inside. The back of Hans' head gradually shrunk as he grew further and further away.

Eventually he turned around, one eyebrow quirked in annoyance.

"Come on!" he called back with a slight scowl. "Before the sun sets and we have to make camp on this blasted mountain."

When Anna didn't immediately reply, he let out a sigh of frustration and kept going.

Anna mentally shook her head, knocking her brain to snap out of it.

This was simply who Hans was. Who he'd always been and always would continue to be. She really shouldn't have expected anything different and the fact that she… well, the fact that she'd begun to hope he still had some teeny tiny kernel of human decency beneath it all was testament to just how harrowing of a journey they'd been through.

Nothing was wrong. She was just exhausted and delusional.

Yes. That was it.

If Elsa had been there, she'd probably even praise Anna for her slow, yet final, return to sanity.

Anna took a deep breath and lifted her foot to take the first official step of many towards home. Towards a place where things would finally make sense again.

She glanced down at the snow right before her boot crunched into it…

And paused.

A line of footsteps extended outwards, connecting the mouth of the cave to Hans himself. From a distance, they looked like any other footprints in the snow, but from straight-above she could see right down to the bottom, where his boots had crushed the soft powder into hard, creviced ice.

It was black.

Anna shifted the weight of her pack a bit, so she could balance on one leg to look at the sole of her own boot. It was also black.

She scrunched her nose in puzzlement and swiped a finger across the rubber. The blackness clung to it. Anna frowned, then rubbed it and her thumb against each other, watching as the blackness fell away.

Ash.

Anna glanced back into the darkness of the cave.

She couldn't help but feel that there'd been something else in that book. Amidst all the maps and riddles. Something that Hans was still hiding.

A small breeze curled around her and she shivered.

The stone's weight hung heavily against her back. All she had was Hans' word that the stone did what he said it did, that it'd do what he said it would, that he wouldn't tie her up and run as soon as they reached Sitron again…

Anna looked again at the vertical wall of storm clouds. The world stopped at that wall. Everything beyond was a barren wasteland of ice and death.

In the end, Hans' true motives were a secondary concern. Whatever he had planned, whatever the stone's true powers were… it was stopping that. It was parting the clouds and returning the sun. People were dying, and she was carrying the power to save them.

She pushed all her other doubts to the side and took her first official step home. And then her next. And her next, until she was soon leaving her own ashen trail in the snow.

* * *

As much as Hans had grumbled about not making it off the mountain before dark, the two arrived at camp with hours left of sunlight.

After both the climb and the decent, Anna was exhausted, but she couldn't just sit there and burn time while people were still freezing to death up north. With only some minor needling, she got Hans to help her pack up their meager camp and they were off.

Rather than tie the pack to Sitron's side, Anna held it in her lap as they rode. She ignored the solid feel of Hans' chest against her back, the occasional warm puff of breath on her neck, and kept her mind focused solely on the mission. Focused on the stone wedged snugly between her legs.

The valley river was already starting to swell with the melting snow, but the great tree they'd used as a bridge was still there. They crossed with minimal effort and began trudging up towards the ridge on the other side.

The sun was dipping low and red as they approached the top of the ridge, so they stopped as soon as they found an acceptable area and set up a new camp.

The skies had cleared with them as they travelled, the world thawing with each step. By the time Anna finished setting up their usual two-tarped tent, the snow had completely melted from their small clearing, transforming the ground into a squelchy brown and green mess.

Anna grimaced as she slowly gathered an armful sticks and branches in the muck and attempted to find the least miry spot to make a fire. The ground was wet. The wood was wet. The cut on her hand still occasionally stung from beneath its bandage. If she could get anything to spark, she'd consider herself a goddess.

Hans came back with several rabbits while she was still struggling to ignite the pile.

"Here," he said, holding out the dead carcasses. "Switch."

Anna raised an eyebrow at the curt demand, but tossed the spark rocks over. She was about to wish him a snide "good luck" when he scraped them together and the twigs instantly ignited.

"Seems like not all of us have the touch," he said with a tiny smirk. His first since the cave.

Anna let out a big huff. "Well," she said. "It's always easy when someone else does all the actual work first."

"The _actual_ work?"

"My attempts dried them out."

"Sure they did."

Anna rolled her eyes in response and plopped herself down on a nearby rock to skin Hans' catch.

Although she'd never admit it to his face, she was glad to hear his sarcasm again. It still annoyed her to no end, but his sudden distance over the past couple of hours had been even more — was still — unsettling.

And her reaction to that made no sense.

Days ago, his silence would've thrilled her. She would've been thrilled that she wouldn't have to interact with the slimy jerk. That she could've pretended for hours and hours that he wasn't even there.

But now…

Anna tried to tell herself it was nothing as she stripped the rabbits from their furs. The two of them still had a long journey ahead. If Hans played the part of a paralyzed mime for the rest of it, she'd die of boredom.

Her feelings were as simple as that.

She hissed as she squeezed a bit too hard on the dagger with her injured hand. After she had the two carcasses cleaned and roasting on a spit, Anna examined her cut. Her blood had stained through a bit of bandage; it'd be good to re-bandage the wound before she went to bed that night.

Hans was sitting on the other edge of the fire and fiddling with a bit of the trapping wire. If his cut was bothering him like hers was, he didn't show it.

Anna coughed. "I can't believe it's already gotten so warm this quickly," she said as she turned their makeshift spit, letting the other sides cook a bit. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

"Hmm," Hans said. "So it is."

Anna's stomach dropped.

"I mean," she tried again. She forced a chuckle. "It feels like, what, April? And it was pure December-ish this morning, so by that rate we should be back to July by midnight!"

"I suppose."

Anna frowned. Hans wasn't paying any attention to her at all. The prince stared straight ahead into the heart of the fire, the flicker of the ever-shifting flames reflected in his eyes.

"And then," Anna said rather loudly. "Since we're obviously rushing through seasons so quickly, I guess it'll all be for nothing and we'll be back to December by the following nightfall again."

Hans' eyes snapped to hers. "What do you want?"

"Me?" Anna's face flushed an indignant red. "I want—" She took a deep breath. Her thoughts were threatening to spiral out of control and her tongue along with it. "I want to get home," she said. "I want to be free of annoying back-stabbing jerks. That's what."

They stared at each other.

"Good," Hans finally said.

"Good," Anna spat.

"And watch the rabbits, they're starting to burn."

"Fine!" she yelled before pausing. "Wait, what? Oh, no no no!"

Anna shoved all thoughts of Hans to the back of her mind as she raced to get the rabbits off the fire. Once they were safe, she glared at him like it was his fault that they'd almost gotten charred.

Because it _was_ his fault for distracting her.

"Here," she said, snapping the spit and thrusting one half in his face.

Anna sat down and tore into her rabbit, ripping off jagged chunks with her bare teeth. She chewed in silence. She was frustrated at him. Frustrated at herself for letting him frustrate her.

But as much as she'd always wished she could dish out the cool, silent treatment like Elsa, Anna had always been terrible at keeping her mouth shut. She itched to talk and if Hans didn't feeling like talking back, she'd fill his ears with whatever nonsense she wanted.

"You know the first thing I'm going to do when I get back?" Anna said. "Well, other than jump in a hot sauna forever and ever and ever… Okay, I'm not sure the southern kingdoms even _have_ saunas, but still— Oh! And I'll be able to meet up with Maximus and Thomas and the other guards again! Now that the snow's gone, I'm going to feed him every apple in the kingdom. Both kingdoms. More than both kingdoms… How many kingdoms are there between Corona and Stralshagen again? Whatever, I'll just feed him apples from all of them.

"Oh my gosh! And I just remembered: Rapunzel's birthday is coming up! Ugggh, I know it was at _least_ a month away before this whole storm started, but I have not been keeping track of days. Have you? What if we take too long getting back and I completely miss it?!

"Alright, alright, I know. That is _wayyyy_ not the most important thing going on right now. I mean, now that I think about it, I'm not even sure there's going to _be_ party after this storm. Arendelle had to ration some stuff after Elsa's whole thing due to the crops freezing and all, and that was just after two days!

"Oh, or maybe they'd have a party in spite of the storm? Like a kingdom-wide celebration with her lanterns as symbols of hope and working together-ness. I think that'd work pretty well. Oh, right. Hans, do you know about the lantern ceremony?

"I've never seen myself, but I hear it's just _amazing_ to see. The entire city gets together and makes these paper lanterns and then at sunset they all gather to—"

"I know about the lanterns," Hans said. "God. Every royal kid grew up knowing about the lanterns."

"Well, _excuse_ me," Anna said. "I was only making sure. My bad. Anyways, I just think it'd be rather peaceful, you know? After all the chaos, to just look up into the night sky and see thousands and thousands of lights twinkling in the summer breeze? I really think it could give a lot people closure and—"

"Why are you always so damn cheerful?!" he snapped.

Anna stared at him in shock.

Hans looked down right venomous. His nostrils flared in time with his heavy breathing, and the sharp slant of his eyebrows twisted his face into something dark and pained.

Anna's mouth dropped slightly as she tried to figure out what to say. To figure out there'd been something that she'd said. It was all so confusing. _He_ was confusing.

"Hans," she finally said. "I know something's wrong. Something that you're not telling me. You can trust me. Please."

"It's nothing," he bit out. He'd finished his meal awhile ago and was now poking at the fire with the stick it'd been cooking on. "Nothing at all."

"But—"

"Just keep talking about your silly horses and apples and birthday parties since you love them so much."

Anna squinted at him, still completely lost… and then she suddenly understood.

At least, she thought she did.

After they returned to Stralshagen and brought back summer, Anna got to waltz off into the sunshine and pick up her life from where she'd left it. She'd get to explore and celebrate and do all the wonderful things she'd been planning to do.

Hans got to return to his tower cell.

She frowned in an odd mixture of guilt and vindication.

Hans had made his choices just as she'd made hers. The thirteenth prince of the Southern Isles was hardly an innocent man condemned to an unjust fate.

Anna hesitated before reaching out with her free hand. For a moment she thought he was about to shift away, but then he stilled and her hand rested gently over his knee.

"Hans, I…" Anna began uncertainly.

What could she do? Apologize? Apologize for what? If anything, he was the one that still need to apologize to _her_.

Would she try to blindly tell him that everything would turn out okay? Oh, yeah. She knew he'd be _real_ receptive to that.

"I just… I'm here for you," Anna ultimately said. She closed her eyes. "Regardless of whether you want me to be or not. Whether you hate me or not. If you ever need help… I'm here."

Anna glanced up, hoping for… well, she didn't know exactly what. His face was impassive, unreadable.

Hans cleared his throat.

"We- We should refill the water skins," he muttered.

He grabbed the skins and stalked off from the clearing, pushing between two bushes before vanishing.

Anna blinked at the empty spot he'd left. She turned to Sitron for some sort of guidance or insight, but Sitron merely snorted and tossed his head, the beast's confusion clearly mimicking her own.

So she sat alone in the muggy darkness, picking off the remaining scraps of her rabbit.

A half hour or so later, Hans returned and tossed her one of the water skins. Anna ventured a smile which he didn't return.

That was the extent of their interaction.

As Anna used the water to help wipe clean her dagger, she found herself yawning. The quicker they got to bed, the quicker they could start off again. Anna tried not to think of the farmers still shivering up north in their small houses… of Rapunzel and her family trapped in their great castle… Hans' brothers… and Elsa…

Anna prayed that Elsa had stayed put for once. The last thing she needed when this was all over was a report about Elsa rushing over to Corona in the storm and vanishing en route. Anna would have to start another quest all over again. Hans would probably have to join her for reasons unknown.

It'd be one giant cosmic joke and she'd be the punch line.

Anna wrapped her cloak tighter around herself.

Despite the temperate night air, there was a still a lingering chill in the breeze. Although she'd gotten along fine before, sleeping alone was suddenly not the inviting prospect it once was.

She wondered.

Anna took a deep breath and yawned loudly, stretching her arms up towards the invisible tree tops. "Well," she said with only a meager attempt to stifle a second yawn. "I think it's just about time for me to hit the hay."

She peered at Hans out of the corner of her eye, attempting to remain inconspicuous. Her efforts didn't seem to matter; the prince had his eyes locked on the fire again.

"That's nice."

It was all he said.

Anna frowned. "I take it you'll… be sleeping out here?" she asked. She didn't want to seem pushy, but—

"Yes."

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "You sure you'll be fine?" she tried again. Her final, somewhat embarrassing and revealing attempt. "I mean, it's still a bit cold. And a bit wet. Wet and cold… It's not gonna be very pleasant without a tarp."

"I'm sure."

Anna's face fell. She grabbed the main pack and stalked off towards the tent before she continued to babble things she just knew she'd regret in the morning.

She accidentally tossed the pack in with her bad hand and hissed at the resulting sting.

Right.

The re-bandaging.

Anna cut some new strips from the cleanest bits of her clothes with the dagger and then flinched as she unwrapped the old, dirty cloth from her palm; some of the fibers had stuck to the wound. There was no way any of this was sterile. She bit her lip in concentration as she clumsily tied the new wrappings. It was difficult doing it with only one hand…

She paused.

Hans had struggled the same difficulty. Not only that but he'd need the dagger.

As soon as she'd knotted the ends, she poked her head out of the shelter. Hans was still sitting next to the fire.

"Hey!" she called, almost brandishing the dagger at him before she realized what that'd look like. "You want help changing the bandages for your hand?"

He looked up at her, sighed, and then turned back to the fire. "No," he said. "Go back to sleep."

Anna frowned.

She took a deep breath and strode over to him. "Well," she said, holding out the dagger. "You're going to need this if you want…"

Her frown deepened as she caught sight of his hand. The wrappings around it were loose, nearly falling off. She sighed in exasperation.

"Look, if you're not going to change them," she said, reaching out her hand, "you need to at least keep them—"

"Stop!" he snapped. He yanked his hand from her grasp. "I don't need your help!"

Anna froze.

Her fingers hung uselessly in the air.

"R-right," she finally managed. She nodded to herself. "Right."

Anna retreated back to the shelter, her face burning. As she kicked off her boots, she tried to focus all the positive things they'd accomplished that day instead of whatever it was that was peeling away at her heart.

She lied down on the tarp's surface; it was damp and lumpy and not at all comfortable by any definition of the word. Then she sat up and opened the top flap of her pack.

The stone's light washed the interior of the shelter in a gentle gold. She flexed her hand, checking her fingers for any potential lingering frostbite damage. Everything looked and felt okay though, so it seemed doubtful.

Anna flipped the pack shut, and the tent plunged back into darkness. She pulled the pack close to her and closed her eyes.

As had become tradition, Anna found it difficult to get to sleep. Tonight, she decided to blame her restlessness on the constant nights of hard ground. Rocks and mud were no substitute for the feathers she'd grown up with.

Yes, it was definitely her back keeping her awake.

When Anna finally got back to Corona, she'd have Rapunzel make her up the best bed in the kingdom. Then she'd be able to bury herself in fluffy pillows and maybe everything would start being okay again.


	10. Act One: Part Eleven

The next morning was warm, almost too warm; Anna stuffed her coat into the pack before they headed out. She rode for most of the day's journey while Hans alternated between sharing the saddle behind her and walking on foot. As much as Anna liked to imagine Hans' sense of chivalry behind it all, she knew it really came down to simple practicality. Her ankle and knee still hurt from the previous days, and the boggy, water-soaked ground wasn't making travel any easier.

Halfway across an alpine meadow, Hans paused.

"What is it?" Anna whispered as Sitron gently nudged his master's back.

"Do you hear something?" he asked.

The last time one of them had heard something, a mountain had collapsed on top of them. Anna kept quiet, straining to hear whatever noise Hans apparently did. She closed her eyes, hoping that would increase her ears' sensitivity.

"Nope," she finally said. She peered at him, curious. "You do?"

"I'm… not sure…"

Several days ago, she would've cracked a joke at his expense. Now she simply made a soft "hmm" in the back of her throat before coaxing Sitron forward. If it _was_ something dangerous, it'd be best to keep moving.

They made it a few more steps before Anna began to hear the noise as well. It was a soft rumbling, tiny at first but steadily rising until both the air and the ground beneath Sitron's feet shook.

The noise morphed into a wordless holler.

Anna turned in her saddle, her eyes wide as she searched for the source. It didn't sound like an avalanche, and it couldn't possibly be wolves…

Her eyes were drawn to the nearby forest they'd emerged from. A giant burst from the tree line.

Anna screamed as Sitron whinnied in fright.

"No! No!" bellowed a familiar voice. "I does not wish to harm yous!"

Anna regained control of her breath and squinted at the approaching figure. It was draped in massive dark-brown furs. Two horns protruded from its head. It was riding a massive steed, its arms thick with muscles as they clutched the reins. As she looked, it dropped them to wave at her frantically.

Then, a dazzling smile.

"Vladimir?" Anna said hesitatingly. As the man rode closer, she was able pick out more and more familiar detail. She perked up. "Vladimir!"

Several seconds later the rest of her missing party emerged from the trees.

Vladimir reached the two of them first, barely managing to stop his horse in time before it collided with Sitron. They weren't close enough to hug, but Vladimir ruffled the top of her head affectionately.

"Anna!" Caldwell called out as he approached.

"We had no idea whether or not you survived!" another said.

They slowed, circling around her in the sun-draped meadow.

"Whether I survived?" Anna cried. "I had no idea whether or not any of _you_ survived!"

"We tried to dig our way through to you but the cave started shaking!"

"We had to turn around and—"

"You don't know how relieved I am to see you well, Princess!" Rogir said from behind the others.

"—nearest pass was over a day's ride away, and—"

"Oh, the storm! It kept getting worse and worse! We couldn't get over!"

"—and then we just felt like total failures!"

Anna beamed as the men swarmed around her, voicing both apologies and congratulations.

"Well, I felt just terrible too," she said. "You don't know how hard it was for me to keep going without you."

"You made the right decision, Princess," Thomas said, nudging his horse through the semi-circle that the others had formed around her. "I assume, based on this weather, that you were successful in your quest."

"Yes, I…" Anna trailed off as she spotted Hans standing unsurely off to the side. He was looking at the ground, looking at the sky, looking at… well, everywhere except Anna and the others. She took a deep breath. "Hans and I managed to get the stone. I couldn't have done it with out him," she added with a smile.

Hans glanced at her briefly, almost disinterestedly, before turning back away. An awkward silence descended as they all stared at him.

Thomas gave a small cough. "Thank you for helping the princess," he stuffily managed.

Hans shrugged. "What was I supposed to do?" he said, his voice lilting and careless. "Let everyone, including myself, freeze to death?"

Anna frowned. Hans was completely selling himself short. But if that was the way he wanted to play it, she wasn't about to pick up the slack and start waxing poetic for him.

The rest of her guards began to chatter, the men surprisingly giddy with relief for how rugged and brawny half of them were. At one point, Anna opened up their pack to show them the golden stone and they all let out the appropriate "oohs" and "aahs".

As the sun continued its gradual descent into the western half of the sky, Thomas pulled out a map and showed her where the secondary mountain pass was located. Since they'd lost the mare, the guards drew sticks to see who'd have to share their horse with Hans for the first leg of the journey home. Caldwell lost, and he did _not_ look happy about it.

Then they set off, Anna being slowly herded towards the front of the party while Hans was herded towards the rear.

Anna glanced back, her heart fluttering with a little bit of hope and more than a bit of anxiety. It wasn't like she was expecting anything in particular… Really she wasn't. And yet…

She tried smiling at Hans again, tried to catch his attention without outright flapping her arms in desperate frustration, but he wasn't even looking in the right direction to notice.

"Princess? Princess Anna?"

Anna snapped to attention to see another one of her guards beaming at her. He wanted to hear more about the mountain she'd climbed and the mysterious cave towards the top. Anna obliged him, embellishing several details for dramatic effect. Several of those details spawned more questions which had her thinking back for even _more_ details, and just like that her attention was diverted for the rest of the day.

* * *

Summer was back in full force for Stralshagen, the days outright scorching and its nights breezeless and humid.

Initially, Anna had thought there'd be some other requirement left to fill, something she'd have to do to unleash the stone's true power. But by the time they'd reached Stralshagen, there hadn't been a storm cloud in sight. The streets had cheered and the steward had attempted to throw them all a multi-day feast in celebration before realizing that, even with the return of summer, his kingdom's rations were running dangerously low.

After two weeks, crops lay dead and soggy in their fields. Granaries were empty. The ground had finally thawed, making it possible to start digging the graves for the countless dead. Anna and Hans had prevented the kingdom from falling into total destruction, but even the most powerful of magic couldn't turn back time on the damage it'd already done.

Anna knew she should've continued straight back to Corona, but she was exhausted. She'd asked the steward send a messenger bird to her aunt and cousin before promptly collapsing on the nearest bed.

Just a few days of not walking and not riding and not _anything_. That wasn't too much to ask for, was it?

The people of the Southern Isles hadn't left yet either. Hans' brothers spent their days working on logistics. A couple of their ships had been damaged in the storm, so their re-migration would have to be done in several trips. Anna didn't think it was that much of a problem to be solved, but the brothers sure made it seem so.

The brothers argued back and forth over only God knew what during the day and through the night… Anna wouldn't have been surprised if all they all went to bed and continued to argue in some sort of shared dream state.

Normally she wouldn't have cared what they did, but ever since her return, many of the princes had become more… _receptive_ towards her for lack of a better word. They listened when she spoke and actively sought out her opinion.

That on its own would've been fine… if there hadn't been ten of them, and if they hadn't all possessed an annoying habit of twisting whatever she said to fit their personal agendas.

She was currently involved in one such debacle.

"Carpenters take precedence over teachers!" Georg shouted, jutting out his stomach in some sort of display of masculine dominance. "Anna said so herself."

"I don't think I ever—" Anna attempted.

"You said that selection based on necessity was better than selection by random generation, did you not?"

"Well, I guess I might've, but…"

Anna shrank back as the room exploded into noise, each brother fighting to hear themselves over the other. As she started twisting her fingers in secondhand embarrassment, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

A warm smile and face dusted with freckles greeted her. Fritz. The third-youngest.

"Want to get some air?" he asked.

Anna smiled in return. "I don't know," she said. "Think they can go on without me?"

They both studied the room and its current cacophony.

"I think they'll manage," Fritz said.

Anna let out a sigh of relief as soon as they escaped the hall. She felt another tap on the shoulder, and suddenly an apple was being held in front of her face.

She blinked. "What's this?"

Fritz flashed her a smile. "Just a sweet gift for an even sweeter princess."

Anna found herself blushing and rolling her eyes at the same time.

"Thank you," she said, taking it.

Fritz shook his head. "No, Anna. I'm the one who should be thanking you. What you did for everyone was truly amazing."

Anna blushed further. "Oh, I don't know. I had a lot of help," she said with a shrug. "If it wasn't for Hans…"

She felt a slight pressure on her upper arm as Fritz slipped his hand gently around it. He took a step closer to her.

Her eyes widened. "Fritz?"

"Don't even think about Hans," he said, suddenly way way way way _way_ too close. Anna could count every single freckle smattered across his nose and cheeks. "I know the two of you have history together, but he's not _nearly_ worthy enough for you."

Anna turned beet red, her eyebrows shooting up above her bangs. Fritz moved his face closer to hers, and she quickly ducked and twisted out of his grasp.

"I… um, thank you. So much," she stammered, taking backwards steps down the hallway. "But there are… preparations! I need to see to, and yeah. Love to chat, but I really gotta go!"

She fled.

Anna, Crown Princess of Arendelle, Junior Member of Arendelle's Consulate to Corona, hero and vanquisher of the June Blizzard, fled.

She didn't slow down until she was passing by one of the doors that led to one the castle's many parapets. With the return of summer, the parapets were the breeziest spots in the whole city and always relatively unpopulated: a perfect combo. Glancing around the hallway to make sure she hadn't been following, Anna pushed open the door with her free hand and froze.

A red-headed man was standing about halfway down the parapet. Anna winced in exasperation at having to deal with yet _another_ brother and was about to figure out some other place to retreat to when she realized the man was Hans.

True to his own pessimistic predictions, Hans had been placed right back under house arrest as soon as they'd arrived. Well, sort of house arrest. He was allowed to wander certain portions of the castle now instead of being locked in the cramped room she'd originally found him in. He still scowled whenever his brothers passed by though. And mostly ignored her.

Steeling herself for whatever might happen this time, Anna tromped forward until they were standing side by side. Then she leaned against the nearest stone and let out a heavy sigh.

"Your brother just tried to hit on me," she said to the breeze. She looked at the apple still cradled in her hands. "Gave me this as a present and then…"

Anna frowned, not wanting to describe the next part.

Hans was stiff and silent beside her. As usual. And then—

"Fascinating," he said. "And you? Is a single apple enough to win your heart?"

Anna snorted, about to tell him 'as if,' but suddenly changed her mind. "I don't know," she said, lips quirking. "Maybe it is."

It was a small joke, teasing him to try and lighten the mood, but Hans seemed to miss the humor. Anna sighed. She returned her attention to the apple, turning it over and over in her hands. As her fingers moved across its surface, something itched in the back of her head.

Something about its color didn't seem entirely… right.

Hans suddenly snatched the apple from her hands and took a large bite out of it.

"Hey!" she said. "That was mine."

Hans shrugged. "Depending on the giver, you're better off without it," he said between crunches. "Which one was it?"

Anna sighed. "Guess."

"Hmm…" As the hum rumbled against his throat, Anna felt her heart race slightly before spreading out into a calming warmth. "Well, the ones who'd actually have enough confidence to try anything would be either Leon or Fritz. But if we're getting into who actually has the biggest crush on you? Have to say Manfried. Definitely Manfried."

Anna turned to stare at him. "Which one was Manfried again?"

"The pasty one who's always agreeing with whatever Georg says."

Anna blanched as the relevant memory rushed back. "Euck!" she said, fingers curling into the stone. "Really?! Him?"

"Now, Princess," Hans said with condescending lilt. "That's not a very nice way to react. People can't help how they feel."

"But he's like… twice my age!"

"Oh, he's not _that_ old… even if he can look it at times. He's thirty-four."

"Thanks. That makes me feel _so_ much better. I'll be sure to hand you the wedding invitations by Tuesday."

Hans snorted in laughter. He glanced at her, and their eyes locked.

For a moment everything was perfect. A slight breeze had finally picked up, and it twined past the two of them. The sun was beginning to set, casting the entire sky in purple. If he'd only…

Hans was the one to break away first. He cleared his throat and went straight back to staring at the town of Stralshagen below.

"When are you heading back again?" he asked, his tone brusque and impersonal.

"Oh, umm…" Anna fiddled with a strand of hair at her ear. "Tomorrow actually."

"Tomorrow?!"

He looked up at her with such alarm that she half-felt the need to apologize.

"Yeah, that is… I talked it over with Thomas and the others last night. We really should've gone days ago, but we just needed the rest."

"Have you told my brothers yet?"

Anna shook her head. "I was going to do it at dinner tonight," she said.

Hans smirked. "Well, at the very least it'll be entertaining. I'll tell them to cancel the post-dinner musicians."

Anna smiled, but it was at odds with the sudden tension in her stomach. She felt like she should say something. That she had to say something. It wasn't forgiveness; she didn't think she'd really ever be able to forgive Hans for what he'd put her and her sister through, but this was something different from forgiveness…

"Hans?" She nervously cleared her throat. "I just wanted to say… we… that is, as a team… We weren't half bad, were we?"

Hans smiled, and like hers there seemed to be an undercurrent of sadness mixed in with it.

"No," he said. "I suppose we weren't."

Anna bit her lip. "Do you think—"

"Princess Anna!"

Both their heads snapped toward the door of the castle. Thomas was standing there, his hands clasped dutifully to his sides.

"My apologies for interrupting, your highness," he said. "But we need you to review our planned route for the journey home."

Anna blushed. She glanced at Hans, giving him a sort of apology shrug.

"Talk to you some other time?" she ventured.

Hans grinned.

"We'll see."

* * *

Anna, Rapunzel, and Eugene stared at the glowing stone resting innocently on a pedestal in its new home in one of Corona's royal vaults.

"So," Anna said. "We just… leave it here?"

"That's the idea," Rapunzel said.

Anna glanced around the windowless room. They were about five levels underground; there weren't any doors other than the one they entered from. A number of other priceless objects were stored on surrounding pedestals and in glass cases: necklaces, tiaras, scepters… Anna knew the stone would be just as heavily protected as everything else, but—

"Are you sure it won't be safer Arendelle?" Anna asked. "I mean, not that I'm doubting your guards, but Elsa—"

"Woah, woah, woah," Eugune said, cutting her off with a sharp wave of his hands. "Think about this for a moment. You want to bring this stone to Queen Elsa?"

Anna blinked at him.

"Yeah?"

"You want to bring this stone to your magical sister?"

"Yeah," Anna repeated, mildly irritated this time.

"This anti-magic stone to your magical sister?"

"Yeah, I— Oh…"

Anna fell silent.

That had been Hans' original goal, hadn't it? To use the stone as a way to defeat her sister? Anna hope he'd moved past that after everything they'd struggled through, but it was still frustrating that the person most capable of protecting the stone would also be the one rendered powerless by it.

As she continued to fret, Anna felt a hand rest gently on her arm. Rapunzel smiled at her.

"Don't worry, Anna," she said. "It'll be more than safe with us."

Anna smiled back. "Thanks."

She took one further glance at the stone — it really was a tiny thing for all the work that'd gone into findng it — and left the vault with Rapunzel and Eugene in tow. They watched the two royal guardsmen lock up behind them before making their way slowly up through the twisting passages and into the aboveground portion of the castle.

"You don't have to go back if you don't want to, you know," Rapunzel said as they strolled through a small courtyard. "You're still on the Arendelle consulate. There's plenty of work stacking up, especially after that blizzard. We can send word to Elsa that you're okay. That's everything's okay thanks to you."

Anna let out a heavy sigh. "I know…"

When she'd stepped off the boat from Arendelle all those weeks ago, she'd been _so_ excited to start work. Even though a lot of things had changed since, that hadn't. Not in the slightest. Finally breaking free from the remaining walls of her childhood home… Being useful, not just as Elsa's little sister, but as herself. As Anna.

Just Anna.

"I have to go back home," Anna said. "Even if we send ten thousand letters, it wouldn't be enough for Elsa. She'll fret and worry and set off a whole 'nother blizzard until she sees me in person."

"Anna has a point you know," Eugene said as Rapunzel started to protest. "If you were the one who'd gone off a life-threatening adventure, I wouldn't sit around and be content with a letter either."

"Yeah, and then you'd end up putting _yourself_ in peril in the rush to find me," Rapunzel told him with a smirk.

"But you'd always be there to save me," Eugene said, bending over as he nuzzled into her cheek

"Eugene!" she hissed, her face burning scarlet. To Anna she said, "He normally doesn't do things like this. He just likes to _embarrass_ me in front of company."

She shoved him away, and he burst out laughing.

Anna stiffed her own giggle at their antics. The two reminded her that Elsa wasn't the only one waiting for her at home. There was Olaf and Sven and Kristoff…

Kristoff.

Anna's chest hollowed ever so slightly.

The stuff that had happened between her and Hans… It wasn't _technically_ cheating, was it? That is to say, it'd been a situation that even the most romance-entrenched heroines could only dream of. It'd been a single kiss and a small one at that. It was only natural that she'd sort of… just… gone with the moment.

And now that moment was over and Anna would be able to resume her normal life.

Whatever "normal life" meant.

Anna breathed deep, in and out, and then realized that Rapunzel had been trying to talk to her.

"Huh?" she said.

Rapunzel sighed. Her lips quirked in a wry smile. "I said it's not as though you'll be away from us forever, right?"

Anna laughed.

"Just you wait," she said. "I'll be back before you know it."

* * *

**A/N: And that's all she wrote for Act One. Thanks everyone who's made it here so far with me. I know it was a bit of a wait for this one. Will take another short-ish break before diving back into Act Two. I'd say look for the next chapter around the start of September? Middle of September? General September-ish time.**

**This is almost like an ending in and of itself, so yeah. Good temporary stopping point. Nothing but cliffhangers and drama from here on out.**


	11. Act Two: Part One

The heavy curtains were tied back to let the winter sunlight stream in through the tall windows. Anna laid back on the sofa, enjoying a relaxing, informal breakfast, one of the firsts of the new year. She'd been allowed to go home to Arendelle for the holidays; Christmas would have been fun with Rapunzel and Eugene, but in the end nothing beat time with her immediate family.

Elsa was eating her breakfast at the table like adults were supposed to. Stacks and stacks of paper were laid out in front of her: figures from the most recent shipping imports. Anna alternated between gobbling down breakfast and knitting a particularly long scarf — a hobby she'd picked up on the long voyages between kingdoms. As she got crumbs in the yarn, Anna could feel Elsa's silent exasperation and disapproval radiating across the room.

Kristoff sat next to Anna, her feet plopped over his lap as he practiced his reading by going through the daily announcements from the neighboring kingdoms.

"Flodheim regrets to anoe… announce a massive heist of their stores of dried sugar beets," he read. "Expect higher prices until summer."

"That's a shame," Elsa remarked as she flipped through a page of her own reports. "Gerda loves those beets. We'll have to see if there are any other kingdoms with stock."

"Also the 80th birthday of the Queen Mother is approaching. Flodheim hopes its sister kingdoms are blessed with similar felih… felici…"

"Felicitations," Elsa aided.

"…felicitations."

"That's a polite heads up that they want everyone to give her stuff," Anna said with a grin.

"Anna! You're an official member of the consulate now," Elsa said. "What would the Flodheim ambassador say if he heard you say something so coarse?" But Anna could see the quirk of her sister's lips all the same.

"He wouldn't say anything," Anna said, "because he'd never hear me say it. Just like I never hear the things he says about _us_ behind closed doors."

"Weideland," Kristoff said, once the two sisters had paused long enough, "is planning release of new stamp."

"Hmm, very important news that is," Anna said, grabbing a slug of orange juice. "Totally worth the messenger bird."

"The new design," he continued with a slight roll of his eyes, "will celebrate the upcoming wedding ceremonies of Princess Josephine, the Crown Princess of Weideland and…" Kristoff's face twisted in displeasure and disbelief. "Prince Hans of Southern Isles?!"

Anna spit out her orange juice, drenching her scarf.

"What?!" Elsa snapped as frost shot across the small table.

"I don't know!" Kristoff said. "Maybe I'm reading this wrong? Here, you look."

Anna threw her scarf to the floor and scrambled for the missive. Her eyes darted down and down the hand-penned lines until they found the one in question.

There it was: Princess Josephine of Weideland to be married to Prince Hans.

"I…" Anna said. "I don't…"

She didn't understand.

True be told, Anna didn't think too much about her "adventure" from the last summer. It was easier not to, and most of the memories were cold and unpleasant ones. Oh, her actual accomplishments had been great, and she still humble bragged about saving half a dozen kingdoms from wintery death whenever she could, but as for everything else…

Well, it wasn't like any of it had led anywhere. And it wasn't going _to_ lead anywhere. And even just _remembering_ it'd happened wasn't fair to Kristoff.

Anna knew who Hans was. He was an act. He'd always been an act. A charming facade. Anna _knew_ that… but she never thought that he would get married to someone else so soon—

She blinked as the missive was ripped out of her hands.

Elsa was holding it now, pacing the length of the small sitting room as she scanned the document.

"Impossible!" she muttered. "I can't believe— _That stupid woman_!" She whirled to face Kristoff and Anna. "We warned them! We warned all the royal families! And his_ brothers_! What were they thinking?! They promised us they wouldn't let him free like this!"

Kristoff coughed awkwardly. "Well, Anna said most of his house arrest stuff got dropped this past summer. In exchange for helping out with that blizzard thing," he said. "Isn't that right?"

Elsa groaned. "Don't remind me about that. I still can't believe you didn't put up more of a fight when they started re-discussing the charges."

Anna blinked before realizing that Elsa was specifically talking to her.

"I wouldn't have been able to get the stone without him," Anna said sheepishly. "It felt wrong not giving him credit."

"You know what feels wrong? Letting a sociopathic murderer get unfettered access to the continent's royalty," Elsa said. "Parole is only for people who deserve it. For people who've changed." She lifted an eyebrow. "Or do you honestly think he turned over a completely new leaf?"

"I…" Anna's head swirled as she glanced between Kristoff and Elsa; the missive clutched in her sister's hands had iced over. She sighed. "I don't know what I thought."

* * *

"Ooh, and take these! You have to take these."

"Olaf, I can't take everything."

Anna sat on her bed as the snowman waddled around her room, packing her suitcases for her. Christmas had rushed by; January and February had passed in the blink of an eye. The seas were clearing up again which meant it was time to resume her ambassadorial duties.

"Oh, I know…" Olaf said. "Ooh! But what about this? You can't just leave this!"

Olaf passed her a roughly-carved reindeer figurine. Anna smiled; it'd been Kristoff's gift to her as a welcome home present.

"You're right," Anna said. "I can't leave this."

Olaf beamed at his thoughtfulness and packed it in along with the dozens of other little trinkets Anna hadn't been able to say 'no' to. The snowman was in the middle of championing a nesting doll set of her, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven when one of the palace servants burst in.

"The queen needs you at once!" he said.

Olaf and Anna looked at each other.

"Any particular reason?" Anna asked.

"Not that she has shared with me, your highness."

With no further explanations coming, Anna hopped off her bed and let the servant lead her to her sister. Olaf followed close behind. They arrived at door of Elsa's study at same time as Kristoff and another servant. The three of them shrugged at each other in confusion before entering.

If there'd been a fire in the fireplace, there wasn't anymore. Elsa was pacing back and forth in front of the mantle, wringing her hands together fretfully. She looked up as they approached, her face locked into a neutral sort of grimace.

"What's… up?" Anna ventured.

"I just received a messenger bird from Weideland."

Weideland. Hans and the princess.

"Ooh, Weideland," Olaf said as Anna's stomach was seized by a weird sort of clammy, flippity feeling. "Where's that?"

"Please tell me they listened to your warning and canceled the wedding and we're _not_ gathered here to hear terrible news," Kristoff said.

"They didn't," Elsa said. "And worse, the ship Princess Josephine and Hans took for their honeymoon…" She closed her eyes. "Apparently there was a storm. The wreckage was found a couple days ago. Bodies too. No survivors."

Anna's heart thudded loudly in her ears. The world seemed too soft and too loud at the same time.

Hans couldn't be dead. He was too crafty to be dead.

He'd survived a blizzard with her. Wolves. Ancient spells. And now she was just supposed to accept that he was gone? Like that? Because some stupid little scrap of paper stuck onto the leg of some stupid little bird said so?

"Anna?"

Someone was gripping her hands. They were saying words, speaking to her. Anna blinked and saw the concerned face of Kristoff staring back at her.

"I'm sorry," she said, pushing him gently away. "It's just… a shock. That's all." She forced her breathing under control, composed herself. "Are… are they sure he was on the ship?"

Elsa's face darkened; her sister didn't need to ask who 'he' was.

"Believe me, I'm just as skeptical as you," she said, resuming her pacing. "If anyone could set up something like this, make it seem like an accident, it's him. And if it _was_ a genuine storm…" Elsa sighed. "I think it'd be best for you to put off your return to Corona until more news arriv—"

"No!" Anna yelled.

Elsa halted in mid-step. "Anna," she said. "I'm only trying to keep you safe. Regardless of whether it was a storm or some sort of trick…"

"A trick," Anna repeatedly flatly. "People are dead and and your first thought is how to keep me here because, oh no! A trick! Whatever shall poor Anna do?"

"Anna, you know it's not like that."

"Then what?" Anna said. "What is it like?"

Elsa drew herself up and clasped her hands together primly. "I trust you, Anna. I trust you more than I trust anyone else in this world," she said. "But when it comes to him…" Elsa bit her lip. "Let's just say you've never quite had the best… judgement."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

Elsa rubbed her temples. "I really don't want to have to go over this again."

"This is getting rather emotional," Olaf whispered to Kristoff. "Don't you think it's getting emotional?"

Kristoff cleared her throat. "Maybe we should all take some time to process this news?" he ventured. "You know, step out for a bit? Cool our heads?"

"No," Anna snapped. "Elsa has something she wants to _say_."

"For the love of— Anna, you agreed to marry the guy after only knowing him for three whole hours!"

"Oh! _Oh!_ So we're dragging _this _through the mud again!" Anna inhaled sharply. "I can't believe you. That was one time. One time! And it happened forever ago!"

"It was last year!"

"Two years! Also, people are allowed to make mistakes, you know," Anna said. "They're allowed to grow and learn and change and—"

"Yes," Elsa said, a sliver of irritation dripping into her voice. "They are. But just because they're allowed to change doesn't mean they always _do_. Anna, the second time you met him, you ran off with him again."

"That's not—! I was trying to save the world!" Anna protested. "I _did_ save the world!"

"But it was _him_, Anna. Anything could have happened."

"We had an escort."

"You ended up losing that escort."

"And it wasn't like I had a choice," Anna continued. "What was I supposed to do? Sit around Corona as the snow piled up and wait for _you_?"

"Well, it would've been smarter than what you ended up choosing."

Anna inhaled sharply, her nostrils flaring.

"Ugh," she groaned. "I can't— I can't _believe_ you!"

Anna spun around and stormed off.

"Wait, Anna!" Olaf called out. "Elsa didn't…"

Anna slammed door behind her and fumed down the corridor. Moments later she heard Kristoff shout her name. He jogged to catch up beside her.

"She's just worried about you," he said. "It's what families do."

"I know…" Anna said. She scuffed her foot against the tiled floor. "But she can't just… She's been worried about me her whole life. She keeps it bottled inside her, like it's something only she can understand. And when things start to shatter, she thinks she's the only one it affects." Anna sighed, looking at the walls that surrounded her. "We were both trapped here for over a decade. Trapped from the world. Trapped from ourselves. All because it's what our parents thought would keep us safe. It's what _she_ thought would keep us safe… I don't want that."

"And I don't want that either," Kristoff said. "But, if that message is true and Hans really is dead, then that's really big news. And regardless of what's "safe" or not, it's only natural that the two of you need time to process it."

Anna looked away. She wanted to stay mad. She wanted to hold onto the seed of anger that'd planted itself… but she couldn't. Her lips broke into a smile.

"You're right," she said. "As always."

The two shared a small peck on the lips and Anna excused herself to resume packing. Only once she'd shut herself in her room did she allow herself to shudder and then scream into her pillow.

* * *

A couple days before Anna's ship was due to leave for Corona, Elsa knocked on her door. She stood for awhile in the center of Anna's bedroom without speaking, her fingers twisting back and forth. Anna sat down on her bed, waiting.

"Look," Elsa finally said. "I know we both said some things earlier this week. And I'm sorry. I know this position really important to you. I want you to succeed. I want you to be able to do things you want to do." She gave a small sympathetic smile. "It's just hard to stand back and not do anything when I'm worried, that's all."

"Yeah, I know," Anna said. She stared at her hands clasped in her lap.

She understood Elsa's feelings perfectly.

And that was part of the problem. Anna understood Elsa's feelings because they were her own: Why couldn't Elsa see that she worried about things too? That she had trouble standing back and not doing things for the exact same reason?

"There haven't been anymore reports of storms or anything out of the ordinary for this time of year," Elsa continued. "So I'd be more than happy to see you off to Corona, but…" Elsa took a deep breath. "Would you consider taking… me? Along?"

Anna stared at her sister.

"But you're the queen," she said.

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"We can't be on the same boat!" Anna said. "If something happens—"

"_'If something happens'_ is exactly why I want to go," Elsa said. She sat down next to Anna and then gazed forward, not looking at her. "Just let me come with you to Corona and then I'll head straight back home. It just, if something happened… if there was a storm and something happened to you, I simply couldn't…" She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Look, I know it's risky having the two of us on one ship, but if something happens, it can't. I can get rid of storms. If there are waves, I can freeze them."

"You can't deal with _everything_ that could happen though," Anna said. "You're not invincible, Elsa."

"Well, yes. But that's not—"

"One day you're going to run into something you can't solve with your powers. You won't be able to protect me."

"Anna…"

"I know. But until then," Anna said, "I'd be happy to have you aboard, sister."

* * *

It was the morning of the fifth day of their journey. The fair skies got a cheer from all the sailors on board, even if a bit of chill and fog lingered throughout.

Elsa was standing with captain by the helm. Her advisors had not been happy with the decision to place both the queen and the only, immediate heir to the throne on the same ship, but — as usual — Elsa won out. '_I have magical powers than can protect me'_ tended to win a lot of arguments.

Anna was currently fidgeting near the bow.

She loved Corona and Arendelle but hated the journey between them. Besides knitting, there was only so much she could do without tripping into things and earning a number of grumbles from the sailors. She'd tried to read in her cabin but quickly got seasick. Gazing into the horizon helped, so Anna started by gazed starboard.

When that got boring, she switched to port.

She switched back.

Anna's stomach began to settle, and she breathed a sigh of a relief. She was about to head back downstairs when she caught a tiny, dark shadow out of the corner of her eye in the fog. It was just a blip, but it was enough. She squinted at it for awhile, and then back-stepped until she bumped into the nearest sailor.

"Do you have a spyglass?" she asked.

"No," he said gruffly. "Why?"

"Oh, it's probably nothing," Anna immediately said. "But I think there might be something out there."

She pointed into the fog. The sailor's eyes narrowed and then widened.

"It's open ocean, so it shouldn't be anything," he said. "Just a piece of flotsam, all betting. But still, better safe than sorry." He turned to another passing sailor. "Oi, Black Jim. Need to nab your glass for a second. Thanks."

The sailor put the borrowed spyglass to his eye. "Well, blessed Mary, mother of—" he whispered before sucking in a deep breath. "MAN OVERBOARD!" he hollered. "BROAD OFF THE STARBOARD BOW!"

He tossed Black Jim's spyglass to Anna as he hurried across the deck. She caught it fumbling, and then held it up to scan the water as she felt the ship start to turn beneath her feet. It took awhile, but Anna finally re-spotted the… well, _spot_ and twisted the spyglass to get better focus. It was still so far away, the fog obscuring so many details, but it did seem to be human-shaped, a body draped across a flat piece of driftwood.

Colors were slowly emerging too. Most of the figure was was a dingy grey, but there… up where the head would be was a shock of orange hair.

No.

It couldn't be.

"What's going on?"

Anna snapped the spyglass down, her hands shaking. Elsa was standing beside her. Her sister's fingers curled over the railing as she stared at the emerging figure.

"I— I think it might be Hans," Anna said.


	12. Act Two: Part Two

"Excuse me, what?"

Anna numbly pointed in the direction of the growing shape in the fog. Elsa frowned before snatching the spyglass out of Anna's hands.

"Oh, Father above…" she muttered.

Elsa shoved it back at Anna, the cold metal stinging against her skin, and bound effortlessly over the ship's railing.

"Elsa!" Anna yelled out.

The sea froze in tiny patches beneath Elsa as she darted across its surface faster than the ship could follow. Anna couldn't do anything but squint as her sister approached the shape, both of their forms blurry in the fog…

Oh, right! She had a spyglass.

Anna lifted it up and focused the lens.

The fog still obscured most of the details, but Anna could now see Elsa standing over the orange-haired man. Her sister's fists buried themselves into the cloth at the man's neck, dragging him up and holding him there before suddenly dropping him. His limp body crashed against whatever plank of wood that'd been keeping him afloat.

He didn't stir.

"What does she think she's doing?" barked a gruff voice.

Anna wrenched her eye from the spyglass to see the captain sternly surveying situation beside her.

"We're more than capable to rescue that man ourselves," he said. "We don't need any extra sea ice at this time of year. Call her back."

"She…" Anna shrugged glumly. "She makes her own rules."

Even as she glanced back, Elsa was quickly making her way back towards the ship. Beside her, a newly-formed block of ice pushed forward both the plank and the man on it. The ice rose up as it neared the ship and roughly dumped its cargo onto the deck. Elsa landed gracefully moments after. With an irritated flick of her hands, she melted the ice both on the ship and in the sea behind her. Then she crossed her arms and glared at the man now sprawled ungracefully across the salt-stained wood.

It was Hans alright. There was no mistaking his face from this close. His face was gaunt though, his skin a sickening, clammy white. His lips were cracked and blue.

He still wasn't moving.

The captain began to examine him.

"Is he…?" Anna whispered.

"Alive," Elsa cut-in. "Unfortunately."

"This man needs some water and dry clothes," the captain yelled to his surrounding men. "Someone prep one of the empty beds. Send word to the cook. Have him whip something up. Something hot and meaty if he can manage it." He curtly nodded to Anna. "Good job spotting him, your highness."

Anna beamed at the compliment but quickly felt her smile wither beneath Elsa's glare. The sailors started to carry Hans below deck. Anna automatically moved to follow.

She felt Elsa grab her wrist.

"You should stay up here," her sister said.

"But—"

"I'll let you know when it's safe."

"Safe? From what?" Anna asked incredulously. "You saw him, Elsa. He's half-dead! What is he going to do? Fall on me? He must have been floating out there for days… a week… If I hadn't spotted him—"

"That's just it, Anna. Why him?" Elsa said. "Of all the survivors to possibly find from that wreck, why him?"

"Why not?" Anna briefly closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her temple. "You know," she said, "you're acting like he actually _planned_ all of this. Like he planned for his ship to get blown apart by a storm and then drift for days and days in the open ocean until we just _happened_ to find him. Do you know how _ridiculous_ that sounds? Also, have you considered that maybe it isn't just him? Maybe there are others drifting out there in that fog. Did you ever think about that?"

"Then go and spot _them_."

Anna opened her mouth to argue further but realized this was one of the battles she wouldn't win. Besides, her sister had a point. If there were other survivors out there, they needed her help.

Anna's shoulders slumped as Elsa strode off after the captain. She paused for a moment, hands clutching her borrowed spyglass. Then she took a deep breath and got to work.

* * *

Anna lurked nervously outside Hans' makeshift cabin. Both Elsa and the captain had declared him too ill to leave his rooms for the duration of the journey. Anna doubted the complete truth of that; the various sailors that they'd posted outside his room for his "safety" hadn't been exactly subtle.

Since the sailors all had other ship duties, the men took turns standing guard as part of a rotating shift. Anna had waited a full day for one particular sailor's turn to come up; he was an older man who acted more like a friendly grandpa who'd wandered onboard by mistake than one of the other sea-hardened crew.

It took her less than a minute to convince the man — she was just really concerned about his health. Please? Pretty please? — to let her into Hans' room.

"Anna?" she heard a familiar voice say as she shut the door gently behind her.

She took a deep breath, and then turned around.

Hans was sitting in the narrow bed, a loose white shirt hanging over his emaciated frame. His lips were still cracked and his skin was blistered and peeling in places. His eyes and cheekbones were sunken, creating harsh shadows that pooled across his face.

Anna didn't care what conspiracy theories her sister had. No one could fake this and, frankly, it was a miracle he was still alive.

"How are you feeling?" Anna asked, and then winced at silliness of the question.

"Like death," Hans said, his voice rougher than she remembered. "Or is that too cliché?"

Anna grinned sheepishly.

"Oh!" she said, suddenly fishing around her belt for a flask. "Do you need water? I'm sure they're giving it to you, well, _obviously_ they're giving it to you, but if you need more—"

"I've been getting enough water," Hans said with a tired smile.

"Okay. That's good then."

Her fingers picked at each other as an awkward silence swept over the small room.

Hans sighed. "Why are you here, Anna?"

She flinched.

"I would've thought that was obvious," Anna said. "You almost died. I wanted to check up on you."

"You know that your sister and the captain are taking care of that," Hans said evenly. "So why are you here?"

"Can't a person check up on a friend?" Anna ventured with an innocent shrug.

"You really consider me a friend?"

The way he said it unsettled her. Not in a terrifying, shiver-producing kind of way but something else still… unpleasant.

"I make friends with everyone, good and bad," she said, trying to laugh it off. "Call it a strength, call it a weakness. It's just who I am. Or don't you remember?"

"How could I forget?" Hans said with a slight roll of his eyes. But then his lips quirked up in narrow grin. "Alright, I admit it. I'm rather glad of your company."

"Really?"

"Compared to your sister and the captain?" Hans held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "What can I say? It's a low bar." He shook his head while letting out a small snort. "She hasn't thawed out one bit, has she?"

Anna's face fell, her heart slowing to a dull thump.

Hans had proven himself capable, even somewhat trustworthy, during their journey last summer, but none of that changed the fact that he'd tried to murder Elsa. It'd been easier to forget about that when it'd been just her and him. When he had smiled and joked and complained about the weather. It'd been easy to think that he'd changed. Not fully of course. She'd be a fool to expect that much. But maybe… a little? Everyone was capable of change as long as it happened one step at a time, weren't they?

But for him to joke so casually about Elsa? To insult her? To try and portray _her_ and the unreasonable one?

A woman he had tried to murder?

Maybe Elsa was right after all. Perhaps there was a part of Hans that would never change…

Anna suddenly remembered knitting her scarf, reclining peacefully as Kristoff had read out that missive.

"Why did you marry Princess Josephine?" Anna asked.

"Ugh. Not you too," Hans muttered. Her ran his fingers up and back through his hair. "Your sister already grilled me for hours over every single detail. I didn't do it, okay? Yes, I lie. A lot. Why should anyone believe me? But lying is one thing. Capsizing a ship in the middle of the ocean with myself on it is another. Is that really so hard to grasp?!"

His outburst took Anna by surprise, but she quickly re-straightened her thoughts. She cleared her throat.

"That's not what I asked," Anna said.

"What?"

"Why did you marry Princess Josephine?" Anna repeated, her voice level like steel. "Was it because she was a princess? Or was it for…" She trailed off, interlacing her fingers. She knew what she wanted to say, but the last word was having trouble coming out. "Was it for…"

"Love?" Hans supplied.

Anna stared at the floor.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked. "Yes? No?"

Her head shot up. "It's not about what I want," Anna said. "Just speak from the heart. Tell the truth. For once."

Hans stayed silent, his face pensive.

Anna buried her face in her hands with harsh laugh.

"Actually, you know what? Forget it." She gazed at the ceiling, trying to keep her voice steady. "I don't know what I was expecting to get from that. I don't even know why I asked. Maybe she was different. Maybe you loved her. Maybe she was just the latest version of me. Either way, it doesn't matter, and I don't know why I thought it did."

Anna stumbled back towards the door and gripped its handle.

"She was the crown-princess," Hans said.

Anna paused, still facing the door.

"She was a nice girl," he continued. "Polite. Beautiful. No pesky siblings. Everything you could ask for in a wife, really… but that hardly means I loved her. In fact, at this stage in life I'm not sure I've ever been capable of the emotion." She heard him sigh. "I was in it for the long haul this time though. No plans to cut the marriage short. But it seems that God, on the other hand, did."

Anna leaned her forehead against the door.

"Why should I believe that?" she whispered.

"Why would I say something so heartless if it wasn't true?" Hans said. "Besides, if anything her death is an unnecessary complication to me. Freshly married, no little heirs squalling about… I've got a uphill battle ahead of me, arguing for my rightful claim to the throne. Apparently she has these second cousins of hers that have been eyeing the throne for years. Due to some unfortunate marriages, they're next in line you see, and they've been lurking in their countryside manors, just waiting for the right little… _slip_."

Anna's fingers tightened around the handle.

He was talking so callously about her. His wife. His dead wife.

Anna took a couple shallow breaths to center herself.

"Are you at least sad that she's dead?" she finally managed.

"Who? Josephine?" he asked.

There was a slight pause, the faint rustling of sheets, a creak of wood as the boat listed from one side to the other.

"It's hard to say really. I mean," he said, "it's not as though we knew each other for very long."

Anna flinched.

Her hand frozen to the door handle, she slowly turned to face Hans.

He was sitting in the narrow bed, exactly as he'd been when she'd entered. His face was porcelain, smooth and expressionless. He held his chin level as they stared directly into each other's eyes.

Anna turned and fled.

* * *

Their ship docked in Weideland's main harbor the next day, a slight detour from their scheduled route to Corona. With clear blue skies and the crisp spring air, the whole crew should've been in good spirits.

Instead, they were all lined up tensely on deck, bidding Prince Hans an official farewell. A small gathering from the nearby castle waited for him at the bottom of the gang plank. All of them were dressed in mourning. Hans matched them, wearing a mask of sorrow to hide the emptiness that Anna knew laid beneath.

Hans shook the captain's hand first, thanking him for his help, before moving on to the sisters of Arendelle.

Elsa kept her hands clenched politely in front of her. She looked firmly past Hans as he reached out, seemingly oblivious, to offer a handshake of peace. His hand lingered in the air for several lonely seconds before he smoothly withdrew it.

"I wanted to thank you officially," he said. "I know we both have past grievances with each other" — his expression didn't flicker as Elsa snorted in derision — "but I'm hoping that one day we'll be able to put that behind us and start forging a brighter future."

"My condolences lay with King Henri and the death of his daughter," Elsa said stiffly.

Silence followed.

The two stared at each other for several moments, and then Hans glided sideways to face Anna like a pre-programmed, clockwork doll.

Anna, for her part, settled for crossing her arms and glaring at the prince with her most menacing glare.

Unlike with Elsa and the captain, Hans didn't offer Anna his hand to shake. Maybe he didn't want to bother with the effort. Maybe he finally knew her well enough not to insult her.

She hoped it was the latter.

Not that she really cared.

"Anna," Hans said. "I…" He closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry."

With no further explanation, he turned and started limping toward the gangplank.

Anna's arms loosened. She leaned forward on her toes slightly, peering after him in confusion.

At a loss, she turned to Elsa.

"He's sorry?" Anna said, lifting an eyebrow. "Sorry for what?"

"Anna, there are so many, do you really have to pick?" Elsa asked. She watched as Hans continued to make his way towards the dock and shook her head. Then she turned to the captain. "Please tell me we'll be able to set sail again soon."

"With pride, your majesty," he said. "The men are just loading some extra supplies. With this tide and the wind holding steady, we should be good to hoist anchor in another hour or so."

"Good," Elsa said before glancing back at the dock. Several black-coated men were greeting Hans with solemn handshakes and silent tears. She rolled her eyes in disgust. "The sooner we leave, the better."

* * *

The sun was shining and the birds were tweeting and everything was too dang cheerful. Anna shoved herself back from her work desk with a groan and slammed the window shutters shut.

It was officially the first day of summer and Anna was stuck inside sifting through paperwork. Paperwork!

As the most junior member of the Arendelle consulate, it fell on her to go through most menial forms. Though, she had to admit it was a little cool having _her_ name be signed on the bottom of each sheet of paper. She was the official "approver."

"Anna! Anna! Anna!" cried a loud, cheerful voice.

The door to her study slammed open and Rapunzel burst in. Anna's hands immediately slammed down over her papers to preemptively prevent them from scattering.

"Do you know what next week is?" Rapunzel asked, leaning her elbows on Anna's desk.

"Uh… someone's birthday?" Anna guessed.

"It's the start of the annual, inter-kingdom Summer Tournament!" Rapunzel said. "And Corona's hosting it!" Her smile stretched the full length of her face.

"Oh, yeah. Aunt Primrose mentioned something about that," Anna said. She frowned. "I don't remember there being one last year."

"Well, there was the blizzard. Remember?" Rapunzel said. "Snow tends to put a damper on summer tournaments. But just wait until you see! People will be coming here from all over! Old people! Young people! Men! Women! Farmers! Kings! And the events!" Rapunzel suddenly clasped Anna's hands, her face growing serious. "I need you to compete with me."

"Compete in what? You should know in advance I'm a hit or miss when it comes to physical stuff."

"Three words," Rapunzel said. She lowered her voice to a hush. "Competitive. Team. Painting."

Anna blinked. Rapunzel was staring straight into her eyes looking deathly serious.

"That sounds fake…" Anna said. "But okay."

"Pleeeease, Anna!" Rapunzel begged. "I've been trying to get Eugene to do it with me for years but he always says 'no.' And Maximus would do it, but apparently there's this weird thing in the rules about horses."

Anna glanced down at the stacks of paper on her desk. She still had so many to go through and if she agreed to help Rapunzel in the tournament, there'd be such a huge backlog…

A nasty thought shivered through her.

Was she really considering rejecting an art contest with her cousin so she could stay and sign more forms in the dark? Yeesh. That was way too similar to Elsa for her comfort.

"Okay," Anna said. "I'll do it."

"Hooray!" Rapunzel let go of Anna's hands to fist bump the air. "First place, here we come!"

Anna smiled and then remembered…

"Wait," Anna said. "You said there'd be kings coming?"

"Yes! Not all of them obviously," Rapunzel said, "but a few. Princes and princesses too. Let's see…" She held up her fingers to count. "There's Wallonia, Dunois, Summershire, Weideland, the Southern Isles— Oh!" Her hand flew to her face. "Sorry, Anna, but can't just _not_ invite them."

"No worries. You have _nothing_ to apologize for," Anna said. "And it's not like it's the people's fault that their princes are so…"

She trailed off, unsure of exactly what adjective to use.

There were so many.

"Don't worry," Rapunzel was saying. "I'll stick by you like tree sap. If anyone annoys you, they'll end up getting a personal introduction to my frying pan."

"You're going to carry your frying pan around the tournament?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"You know, there are equally effective, less bulky weapons."

"I knooow," Rapunzel said. "But I like my frying pan." She shrugged. "So what do you say? Out of this study and into some fun?!"

"I already said… Wait, what? You mean now?"

"Of course! We need to get some practice in before the big day!"

Anna bit her lip. She hadn't really expected to sink _that_ much time into it.

She looked at the shutters and imagined those annoying birds beyond. In her mind she could see the ambassador, shaking his head at her in disapproval. Her sister, hunched over and fretting about the latest financial reports.

"Aww, hell," Anna said, shoving the nearest stack of paperwork aside. "I can finish these later. So what exactly are we painting?"

Anna let out a startled yelp as Rapunzel grabbed her arm and yanked her from her chair. She let her cousin drag her out of the room, rambling the whole way about the basic rules and scoring system.

* * *

**A/N: You guys have no idea how many times I almost typo'd "fog" as "dog" in this chapter.**


	13. Act Two: Part Three

Anna dunked her brush into the can of orange pigment and continued painting furiously. An enormous, complex mural lay beneath her, spread out across the city's cobbles, morphing seamlessly from spring to summer to fall to winter. As she put the finishing touches onto her autumn leaf storm, she glanced over at Rapunzel and winced.

Hoo boy.

It wasn't like Anna was a bad artist. She could run laps around Kristoff and Olaf's stick figure drawings. However, compared to Rapunzel's talent…

She forced herself to ignore her cousin and got back to her own work. There were still so many things she had left to paint! The winter sky! A fleet of reindeer! Houses… oh! She'd almost forgotten the windows…

"Time!" bellowed the judge.

Anna and the rest of the competitors jumped back. She stared at the painting, chest heaving with adrenaline. It was done.

A paint-smeared hand interlaced into hers. Anna glanced up to see Rapunzel beaming at her.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" her cousin whispered. "It's perfect!"

Anna looked back at the painting. It was… impressive. She did take pride in that. It was, without a doubt, the _best_ piece of art she'd ever done. However… it was still painfully obvious where Rapunzel's parts of the mural ended and Anna's began.

"Thanks, but…"

"It's perfect," Rapunzel repeated firmly.

They stood together in silence as they waited for the judges to review each submission and declare a winner.

"In third place," the head judge finally announced. "Johan and Aletta from the kingdom of Wallonia!"

The crowd clapped and cheered as a quiet, black-haired couple came forward to claim their prize.

"In second place," the judge continued, "the princesses Anna and Rapunzel from the kingdom of Corona!"

Cheers erupted again, louder this time. Anna remained suspended in shock for a moment, stumbling as Rapunzel dragged her forward. They stood together in front of the applauding crowd as they received their trophy, smiling both at everyone and no one in particular.

They'd won.

It'd been a while since Anna had won anything. Well, anything more than a participation award or Arendelle's best cheer coordinator.

She wasn't sure why Arendelle even _had_ a best cheer coordinator award.

Rapunzel lifted their trophy higher to show off to the crowd, and Anna's smile faded slightly. If it hadn't been a team competition, her cousin would've gotten more than second…

As if on cue, the judge announced the first place winners, and the two princesses stepped off to the side. Anna let Rapunzel keep hold of the trophy.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Sorry?" Rapunzel blinked in confusion. "For what?"

"If it wasn't for me, you would've… well…" She bit her lip as the crowd let out one final thunderous applause. "These cheers would be for you right now."

"What are you talking about?You're acting like we straight out lost! Anna, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have even qualified!"

"If it'd been a single person challenge-"

"But it _wasn't_ a single person challenge. Besides, those aren't as fun," Rapunzel said with a slight roll of her eyes. She clasped Anna's shoulder with her paint-smeared hand and smiled. "Second place is still amazing, and I had so much fun! Did you have fun?"

"Well…"

"Did you have fun?" Rapunzel repeated seriously.

Anna smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah," she admitted.

"See? What more could a girl ask for?" Rapunzel turned her head and suddenly started waving their new trophy high above the crowd. "Eugene!" she shouted. "Guess what! We won!"

Anna heard him shout back a distant 'I know!" as Rapunzel politely pushed and shoved her way through the crowd. Moments later, her cousin had completely disappeared.

Anna sighed.

She remained standing in her current spot. The event coordinators were starting to rope off paths so that everyone could walk by and see the completed murals in a quick and organized fashion. A small seed of pride blossomed in her chest. Rapunzel had a point. Sure, maybe Anna wasn't ever going to be the world's next Da Vinci, but she had made something beautiful. Contribution was contribution.

"Princess Anna," drawled a syrupy voice behind her. "So we meet again."

Anna instantly frowned, the seed squashed.

She'd heard that voice before… but where? As she turned around, she repressed a shudder, forcing her lips up in a polite smile instead.

"Oh, umm… Manfried, wasn't it?" Anna said, awkwardly trying to recall the name of Hans' older brother. His red hair was plastered down with sweat, and he was vigorously attempting to cool himself with a miniature paper fan.

"Yes!" he said, breaking out into a toothy smile. "How wonderful that you remembered! Are you here by yourself? You shouldn't be you know. A crowded city like this is not a safe place for a princess. Here, I'll accompany you."

He extended a spindly arm out towards her for her to… cling to? Like a damsel in distress? He hadn't even asked her! He'd just assumed she'd…

Anna took a short breath. In. Out.

"Thank you but I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," she said. "You know, magic blizzards and all?"

Manfried waved his hand dismissively in front of her.

"A little snow is _nothing_ compared to all the terrors of theft and kidnapping and who knows what else these… common folk get up to."

What was left of Anna's smile faded.

"It's been wonderful," Anna said in a flat voice. "But I should really get going."

"And I simply can't allow you to wander off on your own. My princely conscious forbids it," Manfried said. "And Georg would agree with me." He twisted his neck and shouted into the crowd. "Georg!"

Oh no.

Another red-haired man who'd been browsing a nearby jewelry stand turned and approached the two of them. His stern gaze pierced through Anna, sending ice cubes clattering into her stomach.

_Fat lot of good she is. It's the other one we need right now._

Georg continued peering at her, his eyes as narrow as his muttonchops were wide.

"Princess Anna," he finally said. "What a surprise. Aren't going to start another storm, are you?"

"Huh?"

"Don't play innocent with me," Georg said. "Three years ago that sister of yours creates a blizzard that the two of you miraculously 'fix.' Then, last year, the same thing happens. No explanations. No cause discovered. Just a magic stone that miraculously 'fixes' everything. Did you really expect everyone to simply play along with your hero narrative?"

"_Hero_ narrative? Wait!" Anna said. She blinked at him in disbelief. "Are you seriously trying to blame me for that storm? I was the one who stopped it! I was the one who saved everyone! Including you! You…" She thought back to the days right after the storm had ended, when she was still lingering in Stralshagen, her and Hans… "You were grateful! You asked me for my opinion on things! You-"

"I was an unquestioning fool," Georg said. "As was Manfried and the rest of my brothers. Isn't that right, Manfried?"

Manfried swallowed, his fingers twitching nervously.

"Yes…" he said softly. "Yes, it is."

Anna glared at Georg, but the older man seemed to take no notice.

"Everyone is always grateful directly after the fact," he said smoothly. "Before they have time to think. To reason."

"Reason _what _exactly?"

Hans' brother had officially slipped from purposefully annoying to outright deranged.

"Come to think," Georg continued, "after that stint of yours, trade and general relations between Arendelle and the kingdoms affected by the blizzard increased fivefold. _Quite_ fortuitous if one actually stopped to think about it."

"People _died_ in that blizzard," Anna spat. "And if you think I'd intentionally-"

She paused.

Why was she arguing with him? Why was she even wasting a second of her time arguing with him? He didn't want facts. He didn't want common sense. He wanted to annoy her and belittle her and stay wrapped up whatever paranoid fantasy world of his.

Anna turned and stomped away.

"Yes," Georg said. "Run like the coward you are."

"The only coward here is you," Anna yelled over her shoulder. "You don't have any niceness in you, so you go and leech it from everyone else aroun- Oof!"

Anna knocked into someone. She stumbled back, flailing, and then a hand caught her. A flash of red hair. Her heart began to race as she looked up…

A pair of gangly limbs and a long nose greeted her.

No, that wasn't right.

"Leon?" Anna said.

"The same," her rescuer replied.

Great. _Another_ brother.

"Just how many of you are _here_?" she said without thinking.

"Pleasure to see you again too," he replied. As Anna straightened up, Leon let go of her hand and began to count on his fingers. "Let's see, there's me, Manfried, and Georg, I see you've run into them over there…" He grimly nodded at the two brothers she'd just left.

"She's a witch, Leon! Just like that sister of hers!"

"Oh, put a lid on it, Georg!" Leon yelled. "No one wants to hear your crazy theories!" At Anna, he sighed. "Sorry. _Try_ to ignore him. The rest of us do. Who else… Ernst and Ludwig, the twins, are here - they're competing in half the events though, so you might see them, you might not. And then there's Fritz and… Otto. I think that's it unless another one or two stowed away. When you have twelve siblings, you never know."

Anna nodded. From what she could remember, Otto had been somewhat nice. She wouldn't mind seeing him again. The twins were hit or miss; she couldn't remember holding a conversation of more than ten words with them. Fritz was somewhat more complicated. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been attempting to confess… well, _something_ to her in the hallway. She had no idea how he'd react to her now.

"And… Hans?" Anna ventured.

"Not here," Leon said, "at least as far as I know." He looked down at the street as he crossed him arms. "Truth be told, he hasn't talked to us much since we let him leave the castle. Can't say I blame him too much. I mean, your own family having to act as your prison guards? Personally, I hated every second of it…" Leon glanced at Anna, his eyes widening. "Not that any of us are bitter or anything," he quickly said. "We all know it's what had to be done after you and your sister-"

"It's okay," Anna said. "You don't have to apologize."

"Ugh. Talking about Hans again?" Georg's voice said directly behind her. He'd waltzed up without Anna realizing. "You'd really be better off forgetting about him. He married another girl, you know. He's not interested in _you_."

"His wife's dead though," Manfried piped in. "So technically he's free again."

"Yes, a terrible storm struck on their honeymoon" Georg said. His eyes narrowed at Anna. "How _fortuitous_."

Anna stared at him.

"I don't know what you're trying to imply," she said cooly. "And I'm not even going to waste brain power trying to figure it out."

"Anna's not interested in Hans," Leon said. "She already has that man of hers. What was his name… Karl?"

"Christian," Manfried muttered with a sullen glare.

"Kristoff," Anna corrected.

Why was she still even talking to them?

"Oh, yes," Georg said with a small cough. "That mountain man of yours. You've been together for… what is it now, three years?"

"Yeah, what is it to you?"

"Well, as lovely as long term relationships are… there is a point, you see. In all of three years, not one hint of marriage or proposal. And here you are, halfway across the continent, continuing to lark about by your lonesome… After awhile people start to wonder if it's truly a relationship or merely a facade."

Anna glared at him, trembling, her fists clenched and ready to strike.

"Anna!"

She whirled around. Rapunzel and Eugene were rushing towards her through the crowds. As they drew close, they glanced back and forth between Anna and the three brothers.

"Making friends?" Rapunzel asked.

"Princess Rapunzel," Georg said before Anna could respond. "How wonderful to make your acquaintance. My name is Georg, and this is Manfried and Leon-"

"Of the Southern Isles," Rapunzel finished. "Yes, I can see. Wonderful to meet you as well. Unfortunately, Anna, Mother needs us for a special something. Sorry," she said to the princes, "Corona business. Have to run! Would love to talk some other time though!"

She grabbed Anna by the arm and dragged her off before the others could follow.

"Thanks," Anna said when they were a safe enough distance away. "I take it there's no Corona business?"

"Nope," Rapunzel said cheerily.

"Perfect. I could have used you a bit sooner though."

"I know… Eugene distracted me."

"Sure," Eugene said. "Blame the husband."

"We made our way towards you as soon as we saw."

"_Man_, those guys good at ganging up on people," Eugene said. "Do they just wander around in packs or something? Ginger wolf packs." Eugune mimed claws with his fingers. "Rawr."

"What happened to the frying pan you promised?" Anna remarked dryly.

"Okay, so I had to deviate from the frying pan bit," Rapunzel said. "As fun as it'd be, there's always the chance that straight out attacking royalty _might_ cause a war."

Anna glanced behind her. The princes were getting smaller and smaller in the crowd, but she could see them starting to bicker. She scowled.

"I think an exception could be made."

* * *

"You look great, come on!"

"Wait! No, I- Ack!"

The brushes and jars and pins on Anna's makeup table clattered to the floor as Rapunzel yanked her arm and dragged her out of her room.

"What's worse?" Rapunzel said as she raced them down the halls. "One missing hair pin or being late?"

"Easy for you to say," Anna muttered, glaring at her cousin's ear-length cut. She managed to extricate herself from Rapunzel's grasp and continued to tweak and adjust her braids with a couple of extra pins she'd managed to keep hold of.

"Anna, we're the hosts. You know it'll look bad if-"

"I know, I know," Anna said. "Can't keep kings waiting."

In addition to the festivities during the day, the Summer Tournament brought with it socializing and fancy dinner parties with the kingdoms' elite at night. Anna debated faking a cold at the last minute to get out of it, but Rapunzel convinced her otherwise. All of the Westergaard princes would be watched like a hawk, her cousin had promised. There'd be no repeat of the morning's events.

The drawing room was packed with men and women when they arrived, about fifty in all. No one paid much attention to the two princesses' entrance.

"Wow," Anna said, flatly, as she surveyed the crowd. "It's almost like we could have walked here from my rooms. Leisurely."

"Heh heh," Rapunzel said with small smile and a shrug. "We made it on time though."

Anna rolled her eyes and strolled off to grab some chocolate from a nearby sweets tray. As she nibbled on a small truffle, she made a visual sweep of the room.

Red hair… red hair…

Georg and Manfried were by the pianoforte, looming and chatting over some unfortunate girl. Leon and one of the other older ones - it was hard to remember, but it had to be Otto - were mingling with some men by the empty fireplace. Another one… younger, round-faced, freckles… Fritz. He was at the center of his own social circle. As Anna watched, the prince said something and the group burst out in laughter.

She didn't feel like talking to any of the princes. Well, Leon or Otto wouldn't be too bad. Unfortunately if she spoke to one of them, the rest would take it as an open invitation. Perhaps if she found Rapunzel again, she could get her cousin to hide her behind some sort of tapestry. She could just vanish until dinner. After all, no one had noticed her come in; no one would hardly notice her leave…

Anna kept her eyes continuously darting back and forth between the five brothers as she slowly walked backwards towards the wall.

"Oof!"

She'd collided into another person. Again.

"I'm sorry!" she quickly said, hands pressing together in penance. "I wasn't looking and…" She blinked. "I know you from somewhere…"

The person she'd bumped into was an older man, his hair spare and greying. He wore a thick pair of glasses above his broad, hooked nose and - more importantly - a large sash around his torso with the crest of Weideland.

"Your majesty!" Anna gasped, breaking into a curtesy.

"No need for that," the old king said. He chuckled. "If anything, I should be the one paying my respects to you. I've never officially thanked you for finding an end to that blizzard."

Anna blushed. "It was nothing really."

"And if that wasn't enough," he continued, "you went and rescued my son-in-law as well."

His son-in-law…?

She let out a small gasp._ Hans! _That is, she knew Hans was his son-in-law, but to know it and then hear the actual king _say_ it were two completely different things. And then his daughter…

"I…" Anna pressed her lips together in helplessness. Condolences were ultimately useless when it came right down to it, but they were all she could give. "I'm sorry for your loss."

The king shifted, adjusting his shoulders as he took a deep breath.

"Thank you," he finally said. "Things… are as they are. We can only be grateful for what we still have."

Anna awkwardly wrung her hands and glanced around the room for Rapunzel, for some sort of way out. She was almost willing to strike up a chat with one of the Westergaards, but for the first time in forever absolutely no one was paying her any attention.

"Is…" Anna struggled to think of some sort of icebreaker. She'd only met the king once, briefly at the beginning of her quest last year. They didn't have too much common ground outside the weather. Literally. "Is Hans… a _good_ son-in-law?" she blurted out before instantly blushing. "Sorry! I don't know if that's too personal or if you don't want to answer or-"

"Oh, no. It's a fine question," the king said. He coughed. "I have to admit, I didn't like the chap at first. Far too quick of an engagement if you ask me. Arranged marriages excluded, what kind of fool agrees to a marriage proposal within a week of meeting someone?"

"Ha ha…" Anna said weakly. "What kind indeed?"

"That and I had heard" - the king's eyes narrowed at her ever so slightly - "rumors… still, I warmed up to him in the end, and he and my dear Josie did love each other so. Excuse me."

The king turned away to dab at his watery eyes with a laced handkerchief. Anna bit her lip as she watched him, debating whether or not to tell the old man that Hans' _"love"_ was all a lie. That while his daughter might have been head over heels for the prince, Hans remained a cold-hearted snake.

Would the king actually believe her though? Would he take a stranger's word over that of his trusted son-in-law's? And even though Hans hadn't loved Princess Josephine, it wasn't as though he'd been the one to kill her. Would telling the king the truth actually accomplish anything other than cause him more grief?

"He's been very helpful, you know," the king continued.

"Huh?"

"The boy's a natural born leader. I thought that after the accident, he'd take some time alone for mourning, but he practically threw himself into his work. He didn't even want to take time off to come here. Perhaps it's his way of coping with the loss…" the king said. His face shadowed with creases as he frowned, and Anna felt a ping of guilt for making the old man recall his daughter's death again. "As I was saying," he continued. "Trade agreements, the royal treasury, public works… Did you know that every project he's helmed has been completed ahead of schedule and under budget? And then we've been able to pass the money we've saved onto the people with lower taxes. They automatically love him for that, if nothing else."

"Really?"

"Is it so surprising?"

It wasn't, when she actually thought about it. She'd told Hans himself once: he had a knack for governing. But to be _that_ involved and effective when he was so callous about everything else…

"I mean," Anna said, floundering to put her thoughts into inoffensive words. "That's wonderful. Truly. But isn't-"

"Excuse me! Attention everyone," Queen Primrose called out from across the room. The room fell into a hush. "I want to thank all of you for attending the Summer Tournament once again. My husband and I are incredibly grateful to be your hosts this year. If you'd all follow me, dinner is ready to be served."

The king raised his eyebrows at Anna, prompting her to continue.

"Umm…" Anna glanced at the people already filing out of the room. "It's kind of a long and complicated… thing. Perhaps I'll be able to talk to you again some other time?"

Anna gave the king another curtesy and scampered off to find Rapunzel and Eugene.

It wasn't fair. The stories always made it clear: put a villain in charge of a country and the land itself would rebel. Plagues would hit. Crops would die off. He would straight out hoard all the kingdom's gold for himself, counting it in his castle, as village after village would rise up against him.

That a terrible person could end up being an amazing ruler was a strange and, frankly, baffling concept to her.

Then again, Hans had only been in Weideland for a few months. Perhaps he was just rolling with some beginners luck.

Rapunzel and Eugene were hanging out in a corner, lingering back as everyone continued to file towards the dining hall.

"She wouldn't let us leave without you," Eugene said as Rapunzel rolled her eyes beside him.

"So…" she said. "Who was that you were talking to?"

Anna glanced over at where she and the king had been talking; he'd already left. "The King of Weideland," Anna said.

"Cool," Rapunzel said automatically.

Her eyes snapped wide open.

"Wait!" she said. "You mean of _the_ Weideland?! The father of-"

"Yes! Yes!" Anna said quickly, waving her hands in front of Rapunzel's face to get her to shut up. "That king. I'll tell you more later. Come on."

The three made their way into the dining hall. Rapunzel's parents and the couple of reigning kings and queens that were visiting had already taken their place at the far end of the massive table. Rapunzel, Eugene, and Anna sat down at the opposite end with the rest of the princes and princesses.

Anna instantly started scanning the table for mops of red hair.

Okay, there was Otto… and Leon… Georg and Manfried… so where was…?

"Anna!"

Oh no.

"After Leon and the others told me they'd run into you this afternoon, I just _knew_ we would meet again," a voice purred beside her.

Anna resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands and slowly turned to face the man who had sat beside her. He smiled, no, smirked at her.

"Fritz."

"The same," he said. "Tell me, Anna. Do you have anything planned for tomorrow night? I've heard tales of this absolutely gorgeous seaside trail. Just think of it: you, me, the light of the summer moon shining down upon us…"

"Fritz, I…"

His lips pressed slowly together as his eyebrows lifted up towards the center of his face. She stared at him blankly.

"He's doing the smolder," she heard Eugene whisper from her other side.

"Fritz," Anna said, firmly this time. "I have a boyfriend, you know."

"How wonderful," the prince said without losing a beat. "Of course, long distance relationships aren't without their faults. That and I've heard certain… things about the two of you."

"From Georg?" Anna said.

"From various sources," Fritz said, glancing at his fingernails. He turned his gaze back towards Anna. "So… what do you say? I assure you, it'll be worth your while."

"Can't you take a hint?" Rapunzel said. "She's not interested."

Fritz frowned. "No one asked you," he said.

"Hey, look!" Anna said brightly. "The first course! Mushroom puffs! I love mushroom puffs! Oh! Do you know who else loves mushroom puffs, Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel stared at Anna for a second with a raised eyebrow and then brightened as well. "No, I don't!" she said. "Who else loves mushroom puffs, Anna?"

"Kristoff!" Anna glanced at Fritz with a smile. "Kristoff, my absolutely wonderful boyfriend, loves mushroom puffs!"

"Ha ha," Fritz said curtly. "A simple 'no' would've sufficed."

Anna flinched as the prince outright glared at her. Then he turned and began instantly oozing charm at the girl on his other side. He said something and she giggled; Anna silently retched.

"Forget about him," Rapunzel whispered. She picked up her fork as the first set of plates were set down in front of them. "He's clearly already forgotten about you."

"That's the problem," Anna muttered. "That's the problem with _all_ of them."

She glared at Fritz and the girl, grabbed her own fork, and stabbed at a mushroom puff, the metal making a harsh 'clank' against the porcelain. Fritz turned, raising a eyebrow at the sound. Anna simply smiled back.

"Yeesh," Eugene said after Fritz looked away again. "Are you… okay? That is, you know if you have anything you need to talk about, we're here. Okay, honestly, probably more Rapunzel than me. But just incase you need me too. I'm here."

"I'm fine," Anna said, glowering. "Perfectly wonderfully fine."

She wasn't fine. But she also didn't want to admit that. Admitting that would mean that they'd gotten to her. That they'd won.

What they'd won, she didn't know. She didn't want to think about it. It was making her head hurt. She didn't know why they got to her. Why she bothered hearing them out. Why she let them wrap her up in their little games - their words reaching beneath her skin and churning her insides - when they were such terrible people to begin with.

Such terrible, terrible people.

"You know who _really_ likes mushroom puffs?" Rapunzel asked airily.

"Rapunzel…" Anna moaned. "I don't really want to talk about Kristoff right-"

"Maximus."

Anna blinked at her.

"Maximus?"

"Yeah, he's been pretty busy and stressed out since the tournament started. We should grab some stuff from the kitchen and go see him later tonight."

"That could be… fun," Anna said.

"Oh, did I tell you about the illegal shipment of mangos he busted recently?" Rapunzel said. "There were butterflies involved."

"And a mime," Eugene said.

"_And_ a mime."

Anna smiled despite herself. "Okay, go on," she said. "I'm intrigued."

Dinner brightened after that. Rapunzel and Eugene spent the rest of the first course tag-teaming the story of Maximus' daring heroics. The mushroom puffs gave way to a delicious venison broth and then roast quail after that. The conversation morphed as well, mostly keeping to light, related topics: why mimes chose to become mimes, the differences between various tropical fruit, adorable animal companions…

"Well, sure," Rapunzel was saying, "Pascal likes everything really, but he absolutely _loves_ papayas."

"Where is Pascal by the way?" Anna said. "I thought he liked meeting new people?"

"Oh, he does, but Mother said it would probably be best to leave him upstairs. You never know which people have allergies or phobias or whatever."

"Allergies? I didn't think you could be allergic to rept-"

There was a loud screech as a chair scraped backwards. Anna's head snapped towards the sound.

The King of Weideland was standing, his chair knocked to the floor. One hand was braced against the table while the other clutched at his heart. He wheezed, his face turning bright red.

"Someone call the doctor!" Aunt Primrose screamed.

Crashes rang out; servants dropped the next course, ran for help. All around the table, people gasped, people stood, people remained frozen in shock.

It was happening too fast.

The King choked out one last strangled breath. He pitched forward, sprawling as he hit the table.

He was dead.


	14. Act Two: Part Four

The hearth crackled in the still room, punctuating the silence with only echoes of warmth. Anna sat on Rapunzel's bed as her cousin silently braided her hair.

Outside, the world had plunged into chaos. The tournament was officially on hold, further dinners suspended. A full battalion of special guardsmen had been assigned to the investigation of the king's death. Eugene was out with them, volunteering his services as a ex-thief and devious mastermind. Everything so far was pointing towards a regular heart attack, but that didn't mean they could rule out murder.

Murder.

Anna shivered.

Rapunzel's fingers paused. "You okay?"

"I- I don't know."

Rapunzel snaked her arms around Anna and squeezed her into a hug.

"Don't worry. If there was anyone behind this," she said, "they'll find them."

"But…"

Anna fidgeted, her thumbs picking at each other in her lap.

Rapunzel twisted around to directly face her.

"But what, Anna?"

"If it was a murder…"Anna glanced away and took a shuddering breath. "…I already know who did it."

Rapunzel's face remained calm at the admission.

"You're talking about Hans," she said.

"Don't pretend like you're not thinking the same thing," Anna said. "He's next in line to Weideland's throne. With the king dead, that means…"

Anna's stomach chilled.

Hans was going to be crowned their king.

…y_ou were so desperate for love you were willing to marry me, just like that…_

Rapunzel sighed.

"You're right about the potential motive, Anna," she said. "But that's also all it is right now. A motive. No one's found any proof of anything yet."

Anna bit her lip.

It wasn't that simple. Why couldn't she make Rapunzel understand?

"Anna?"

"Just… What if it's my fault he's dead?!"

"What?"

"Hans would still be under house arrest if I hadn't vouched for him!" Anna said. "He wouldn't have married Princess Josephine and then she would be alive and her father would be alive…"

Anna clenched her hands together until her knuckles hurt.

"What if he killed them both and I was the one who let it happen?" Anna whispered.

She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Anna, look at me."

After indulging in a small sniff, Anna complied. Her cousin's gentle brown eyes twinkled back at her with a sad smile.

"It's not your fault, okay?" Rapunzel said. "Other ships got caught in that storm. They found the pieces of the wreck, bodies… and you yourself were the one that found Hans. Didn't you said he was half-dead when you spotted him?"

Anna nodded.

"So how was that your fault? How was that anything other than an accident?"

_…I figured, after we married, I'd have to stage a little accident for Elsa…_

Anna flinched away from Rapunzel's touch.

She tried to speak, but nothing came out. Anna pushed herself off Rapunzel's bed and began pacing by the fireplace.

"Even if the ship was an accident, that doesn't mean he wasn't involved with this," she said. "I mean, even if he's not here, I know there are poisons that can look like heart attacks. All he would've had to do was slip some poison in a vial, have someone give it to a servant…"

"That's why we're _investigating_," Rapunzel said. "If there's even a trace of poison in the king, in the food, our people will find it."

"But-"

There was a knock at the door. Eugene poked his head through.

"Interrupting anything?" he asked.

"No, we're just fine," Rapunzel said, hopping off the bed to give him a peck on the cheek. "Come right in."

As she led her husband to a chair, Anna slumped down in a nook by the window.

"Find anything?" Rapunzel asked him.

"No," Eugene said. "We've been examining the food… the wine… everything's turned up normal so far, but…"

He bent forward and ran a hand through his hair.

Rapunzel frowned.

"Anna says she thinks-"

"Yes, Hans," Eugene finished for her. "Right now, I think he's suspect number one on _everyone's_ lists." He sighed. "The guy's gonna have a fun time winning the trust of Weideland's nobles, that's for sure."

"They can't charge him for anything if there's no evidence though… can they?"

"Not directly, no. But civil wars have started over less." He shook his head. "I remember when Belleau practically self-destructed. Be glad the two of you weren't around for that one."

Anna stared down, picking at her fingernails again. Her body was split down the middle, the fireplace's glow warming her front half as the stone walls leeched it from her back.

"Do you think Hans' brothers had anything to do with it?" Eugene asked.

It took a moment for Anna to realize he was talking to her.

"What? Oh…" Anna thought about it as she took a deep breath. "They're a petty group of pompous know-it-alls for the most part," she said, "but I don't think they were involved. None of them seem to like Hans very much, let alone like him enough to _kill_ for him."

"Hmm…" Eugene said.

"Why? Are you questioning them?"

"Formally, no. From what the others told me, inter-kingdom investigations are more dance than investigation: one wrong step, the wrong, pissed-off person, and boom. War. But we _will_ have men tailing them for the next couple days. Just in case."

He and Rapunzel moved on to discuss the logistics of the next several days: which guards would be assigned where, whether extra security would help ease tensions or simply increase paranoia, the official address Rapunzel's dad would have to give to the public, the further steps that'd be needed if poison _was_ found because as much as everyone suspected Hans that didn't mean he was automatically the culprit…

"What about you, Anna?" Eugene asked.

Anna blinked at him.

"What _about_ me?" she asked. "Are you saying I'm a suspect?"

"Of course not. But if Hans was behind the king's death, I think you'd be number two on his poisoning list."

"Actually, I think I'd be number three. After Elsa."

_…all that's left now is to kill Elsa and bring back summer…_

She tried to swallow; it got stuck in her throat.

"Nice," Eugene said. "But I'm actually being serious for once. We can get some extra guards if you need-"

"I don't need guards."

Eugene and Rapunzel looked at each other.

"But-"

"I just listened to the two of you talk for the last half hour about how you don't have _enough_ guards," Anna said. She smiled. "Trust me. I'll be fine."

"Maximus has a rotating shift," Rapunzel said. "He could always…"

Anna sighed. "You want the honest truth?"

She glanced down at her hands, not exactly sure what she was about to say. They were stray thoughts that'd been circling in her head - popping in, fleeting out - over the past several months. Thoughts she'd never actually put into words yet.

Thoughts she'd been kinda afraid to.

"It's just…"Anna looked back up at the concerned faces of her friends and swallowed. "I joke about it, but I'm not sure I'm Hans' number three. Or even number ten. Or number whatever. You see… I don't think he hates me anymore. At least not like that." Eugene's face started to twist in disagreement, and Anna winced. "I know!" she said. "I know it sounds delusional! Don't think for one second that I've forgotten everything he's done, cause I haven't! But…"

Anna stared off into the corner of the room.

"After we got the stone and he didn't 'need' me to break the protections on it anymore, he had _more_ than enough time and opportunities to take his revenge on me… and he didn't."

"Anna," Eugene said. "I hate to break it to you, but he _did_ need something else from you. Your word. If he came back with that stone by himself, nobody would've trusted him."

"I know…"

A stray thought wedged itself in her brain.

It couldn't possibly be related to… but it was still better to make sure.

"Is the stone still safe?" Anna asked.

"Yep," Rapunzel said, seemingly eager to change topics. "Eugene and I _personally_ check on it once a week. Still gold and shiny." She paused with a frown. "Why? You think _it_ has anything to do with this?"

"No, I…" Anna sighed again. "I don't know what I think."

* * *

In the end the investigations turned up nothing. The Summer Tournament resumed with muted excitement and ultimately wrapped up with a fraction of the fanfare it'd started with.

The months rushed by.

Anna quickly learned that the death of a monarch meant, well… funerals and mourning, _yes_, but also mountains of paperwork for anyone working on the relationship-side of things between the various kingdoms.

As did the coronation of a new one.

Every so often a copy of the latest inter-kingdom trade agreement made its way past Anna's desk. She always flinched at the sight of Hans' name, printed in bold letters alongside all the other monarchs, before scolding herself for being silly.

Well, not silly.

Paranoid.

And not even _unfounded_ paranoid at that.

Still, there wasn't anything a junior consulate member could do about the situation. Or a crown princess for that matter. If the people of Weideland were happy with him as their king, then the rest of the kingdoms just had to accept it.

Anna sighed to herself, shuffled the sheet into the rest of her reviewed pile, and continued her work.

* * *

Summer had fully chilled into autumn when the messenger let himself into the breakfast hall.

"Your majesties," he said, bowing to Anna's aunt and uncle.

Aunt Primrose put down her fork with a soft clink. "Yes?" she said while Uncle Thomas finished his chewing and dabbed at his mustache with his napkin.

"It's from Weideland," he said, passing letter to them. "They claim they're under attack."

Anna froze.

Her uncle's chest rumbled with coughs as he reached for letter. Rapunzel and Eugene stared each other, a silent conversation rapidly being passed back and forth in series of eyebrow raises and mouth twitches.

Anna glanced back at her plate.

Hans hadn't even been the king of Weideland for three months. Perhaps he'd angered the wrong person… Or a faction of older lords had broken off and challenged his legitimacy.

"By who?" Uncle Thomas asked even as he started unrolling the missive.

It _had_ to be the lords. It was the only thing that made sense. Kingdoms didn't just hand their thrones and royal lines over to a one month marriage. _Less_ than a month. No amount of good governing could ever sweep that into the closet…

"Stralshagen," the messenger said.

Wait, what?

Her mind called up memories of the small city-state. Sure, she'd managed to rescue them from the blizzard in time, but "in time" didn't mean thriving. For a kingdom so crippled to declare war… Stralshagen wasn't even a kingdom! The physical _size_ of the place compared to Weideland…

And then that didn't even take into account their limited resources… population…

If Hans had been the aggressor though…

"Are you sure it's not the other way around?" Anna blurted out.

She'd been privately lectured before by senior members of the consulate about her bad habit of "threateningly blunt political insinuations," but everyone in the hall seemed to be as dazed as her.

The messenger nodded.

"There is a _chance_ Weideland made a mistake as to origin of the attacks," he said. "But otherwise it's printed right there. Plain as day."

Her aunt and uncle were both hunched over now, sharing the small message between them. Rapunzel pushed her chair out and went to read over their shoulders.

"They don't mention any reason for…" Aunt Primrose glanced up at messenger. "Was there anything else?"

"No, your majesties. Just that. However, it _was_ sent with one of their fastest birds. Perhaps more is on its way?"

Anna frowned to herself.

Nothing about this was making any sense…

She jumped as a chair scraped back. Uncle Thomas stood.

"My apologizes," he told his family. "But I need to take care of this."

Everyone around the table blankly nodded back at him. Rapunzel clutched her hands in front of her chest as he left the breakfast hall with the messenger, speaking in low, echoed murmurs.

Their conversation snapped to silence as the door swung shut behind them.

Rapunzel remained at her mother's side.

"I don't understand," Rapunzel said. "I thought all the kingdoms were on good terms with each other."

"As did I," Aunt Primrose said.

Her eyes lingered on the closed door for a moment before she snapped her napkin back into place.

"Unfortunately, there's nothing any of us can do about it at the moment," she said. "Your father will take care of matters for now, not there's much to take care of before more information arrives. In the meantime, it's a shame to let food go to waste." She shook her head. "It's so ridiculous… Perhaps your father will come back before we're all done with the news that this was all just some unfortunate miscommunication."

"Yeah… Maybe…"

Rapunzel didn't look as optimistic as her mother. She slunk back to her own seat, Eugene giving her a small smile before she resumed eating in silence.

Anna wished she could do the same. Her stomach still ached with hunger, her breakfast barely touched, but none of the food looked appetizing anymore.

"Wait," Eugene suddenly said. His eyes widened. "Stralshagen. Aren't they that tiny city kingdom?"

"Yeah. Run by stewards. Used to be bigger several hundred years ago, but their land's been slowly chipped away since then…" She turned to Anna. "You've been there, right? Last summer?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah."

"But why would Stralshagen ever _attack_ anyone?" Eugene said. "I mean, that's gotta be a suicidal decision if I've ever heard one!"

Aunt Primrose, Rapunzel, and Anna all locked eyes with each other.

It was the question that'd been on all their minds. And just like that, the dam broke. Her aunt and Rapunzel instantly began discussing the possible, if there even _were_ any possible reasons for the attack.

Anna stayed silent.

After awhile, she stabbed piece of egg with her fork and forced it down her throat.

* * *

Anna's first official Christmas away from home was a weird combination of festive delight and crippling homesickness.

Corona was really, _really_ far south… which, sure, was great for not freezing your nose off whenever you had to set foot outside eight months out of twelve, but terrible when it came to the general feeling of the winter holidays. Only the barest powder coated the ground in the weeks leading up to it, and by Christmas morning itself, it'd all melted into squelchy, brown muck.

It wasn't the worst thing in the world, Anna supposed. A sane person would've hated the snow after everything that she'd been though.

What could she say?

She had the north in her. Now and forever.

On a more cheerful note, Anna received more presents that year than she'd gotten before. Elsa, Kristoff, and Olaf had all sent presents from across the sea: a beautiful necklace, intricately carved reindeer, and macaroni picture of Arendelle's castle respectively.

Kristoff's present also came with an attached card that made her blush. She tucked it underneath her mattress before leaving for the morning. She didn't need Rapunzel to find _that_…

During the main celebration with the rest of her extended family, she unwrapped a fancy, hawk-feather quill and notebook from Eugene, a painted landscape of a wintery, ice-locked fjord from Rapunzel, and a shimmering blue court dress from Aunt Primrose and Uncle Thomas.

"Continue to make us proud," her aunt said, pressing a light kiss on her forehead.

Apples from Maximus, various odds and ends from Vladimir and the other men she'd travelled with… even her fellow consulate members had chipped in to get her an extra large box of gourmet chocolate.

Anna meticulously rationed them out, but despite her tightest self-control, she could only make the box last a couple days into the new year.

"You went through all of them _already_?" Rapunzel asked as Anna downed the last chocolate with a slug of wine.

"Waf cannae say?" Anna mouthed. "Cholaffe an me go _fvvvvay_ back."

The two clinked their glasses together, and then went back to their books.

It was a quiet reading night in the palace's library, an old tradition of Anna's aunt and uncle that the younger generation had picked up too. Eugene was particularly fond of swashbuckling adventures, recommending a new one every time he spied Anna browsing the shelves.

They were good stories too, but he had way more recommendations than she had time these days…

Anna swished her wine glass around with one hand while the other flipped the pages. She barely heard the knock at the door.

When she glanced up, her stomach dropped.

It was another messenger.

The past several months had brought with them both the surrender and annexation of Stralshagen. According to reports, the initial attack had been ordered by a distant royal cousin of the Stralshagen stewards, claiming they had more right to the Weideland throne than King Hans did. The few battles had been brief and mostly bloodless… afterwards everything looked like it'd been resolved…

And then Ostenberg had declared war on Weideland on the grounds that it should've accepted Stralshagen's surrender _without_ the annexation.

From then on, the other surrounding kingdoms rose and fell like dominoes, each declaring war only to topple weeks later… and through all of it lay Weideland, completely innocent.

Never _once_ the aggressor.

The messenger cleared his throat as if knowing his news was unwanted.

"It seems," the messenger said slowly. "Wallonia has declared war on Weideland."

Wallonia.

The kingdom next door.

In unspoken agreement, Anna's aunt and uncle immediately shut their books and left with the messenger.

Anna, Rapunzel, and Eugene were left in the library. As they looked at each other, a single set of questions hung in the air:

Would the war bleed over to them?

What if they were next?

* * *

Anna sat at her desk, her boots propped squarely up on the lacquerred finish. She chewed on the tip of her hawk-feathered quill as she reread the letter for the seventh time.

Someone knocked on the door and she quickly swung her feet off, smoothing her skit in an attempt to look like a proper adult.

"Come in!"

It was Rapunzel. She gave Anna a small smile.

"We missed you at dinner tonight." She nodded at paperwork on Anna's desk. "Wow, look at you. Prioritizing work over your stomach for once."

Anna bit her lip.

It'd be easy enough to agree with her. To soak up the complement (well, _half-_complement) and keep the letter to herself for awhile… pretend nothing was wrong.

Like she was capable of that.

She sighed and passed it over to Rapunzel.

"It's from Elsa," Anna said as Rapunzel began to read. "She doesn't think it's safe here anymore. She… she wants me home."

Rapunzel's brow creased more and more as her eyes travelled down the page.

"She has a point, you know." she said after a moment.

"What point?" Anna demanded. "If _I'm_ not safe here, you're not either! What am I supposed to do? Just leave?!"

Rapunzel was silent, her eyes still locked on the letter.

Anna crossed her arms.

"I mean, it's not like Corona's going to declare war anytime soon. Are you?"

"No," Rapunzel said, glancing up. "But at the same time, we didn't think Wallonia or any of the others were either. Nothing like this has ever happened before. I don't know what's…" She passed the letter back to Anna. "If I was Elsa, I think I'd want you home too. Just for a bit at least. Until we all figure out what's going on."

Anna frowned. Her sister's tight, looping signature was etched at the bottom.

"I guess… I guess I'll at least think about it," Anna mumbled. At her cousin's insisting stare, she sighed and added more firmly, "I _promise_."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, especially on a cliffhanger. I was finishing my Labyrinth story up, and now that that's completely done, All That Glitters is the sole, huge project on my plate.**


	15. Act Two: Part Five

Anna leaned out over the ship's rail and took in a deep breath of crisp, spring air.

Elsa, Kristoff, and Olaf were all waiting on the pier as the ship docked into Arendelle's harbor. Sven stood behind the three of them, a banner reading "Welcome home, Anna!" tied between his antlers.

Anna sprinted down the gangplank, ignoring the barked commands from the captain to walk. She tackled her older sister and Kristoff in tight hugs. After a small tug on her dress, she knelt down and wrapped Olaf in a similar but gentler one. Despite the magic in the small snowman, Anna still worried sometimes about crushing his torso into even smaller snowballs.

"You won't believe everything that's happened," Anna said. She stood up from Olaf and began petting the side of Sven's neck. "I mean, I'm sure there've been letters, but-"

"I know," Elsa said. She was still smiling, but there was something strained about it. "I'm really happy you've made it back here safe and sound."

"Elsa, what-?"

Anna broke off as Elsa pulled her into another hug. When Anna was finally able to step back, Elsa's smile had faded completely.

"I'm afraid we don't have much time," she said. "Follow me."

Elsa nodded at several of the castle attendants who started up the gangplank to fetch Anna's luggage, then turned and started off towards the castle.

Anna blinked for a moment before turning to Kristoff with a blank face. He merely shrugged.

"She's been like this for the past couple months," Olaf whispered in a rather piercing non-whisper. "I think it has something to do with you-know-who."

Anna stared at the snowman. "You mean Hans?"

"Hurry up! I don't want to keep the ministers waiting!" Elsa called back.

"Wait," Anna said. "The ministers?"

Kristoff frowned. "Whatever it is, it's news to me too," he said. He rubbed his chin. "I wonder if she got another letter this morning… There's been a lot of them coming in recently from all sorts of kingdoms and lords and stuff. All to do with the recent…" He cleared his throat. "…power transfers."

Elsa had stopped up ahead, this time with her arms crossed, clearly waiting for them to get a move on.

So much for a Happy Homecoming day.

Sven stayed outside as they entered the palace. Elsa navigated them silently through several hallways before stopping at pair of double doors.

The council room.

Elsa wrung her hands together as she looked between the three of them. "Kristoff," she said with a strained voice. "You can come in with Anna and me, but Olaf…"

"I can be quiet this time!" Olaf piped up. "I promise!"

Elsa smiled.

"I have a better idea," she said, crouching down to his level. "After we're done here, I'll go build an miniature ice palace in the courtyard, and we can all throw Anna the big 'Welcome Home' party that she deserves. But before I build it I need someone really talented to draw me up some plans."

"Oh! Oh! I can do that!" Olaf shouted. "See you later, Anna! See you later, Sven!"

Elsa shook her head as he bounded off down the hall and disappeared.

She turned back to the others. "Shall we then?"

Hand interlinked with Kristoff's, Anna followed Elsa silently into the council room. She'd never liked the place, even as a kid. The plain, oak table and twelve chairs in the center of the room were the sole pieces of furniture. She remembered trying to hide under it once… getting scolded…

And it hadn't gotten anymore inviting in the fifteen years or so since.

Each of the twelve chairs was filled: three older women, the rest men. They were the heads of various noble families, distinguished military generals (not that the military was used for much more than pirate control these days), scholars who'd studied in the famous universities down south and could quote exchange rates reaching thirty years back… all looking far more dour than usual.

A regional map of all the nearby kingdoms hung on the back wall. Anna winced as she noticed that all of Hans' new territory had been shaded in red. Up until now, she hadn't realized quite how much he'd gobbled up. Faint black lines still marked the old country boundaries. Anna counted them with her finger.

Five.

Hans now ruled five separate kingdoms.

"Ahem!"

Elsa stood at the head of the table, an open letter in her hands. Since here weren't any empty seats, Anna shuffled against the back wall with Kristoff. One of the generals coughed, the sound echoing in the silence.

"I have received a new letter this morning." Elsa glanced around at all the ministers. "It comes from none other than King Hans himself. He writes…" Elsa rolled her eyes. "'My Dearest Sister, I can only imagine the state of your current thoughts…'"

"Sister?" Kristoff whispered as Elsa continued to read.

"It's just a phrase. The 'traditional' way for kings and queens to address each other," Anna whispered back. She frowned. "Well, in letters at least."

"'Due to our unfortunate, regrettable history, I know you must think me the blackest of scoundrels,'" Elsa read. "However I ask you to rely upon your firm sense of rationality and not any prior judgements when I say that I am as much a victim of these strange twists of fate as you.'"

Elsa continued reading the letter, her hands moving slowly down the parchment, each word dripping off her tongue like acrid cake.

"'I hope,'" she finally said as she reached the end. "'The past can continue to be left in the past and that our kingdoms can continue to flourish from their existing cooperation.' Signed, King Hans."

No one spoke as Elsa slowly refolded the letter and slipped it neatly back into its envelope. When she was done, she held it clutched lightly in front of her with both hands.

One of the ministers coughed.

"Well," another one said. "He does have a point. No one can _prove_ that he took over those countries illegally, and all of them _are_ invaluable trade partners."

"So you need proof," Elsa said calmly. "If that man had murdered me out on the ice, alone in the storm, would you have needed the same proof? What if Anna had died as well? With no proof would you have made him king?"

Several eyes flashed towards Anna. She stared back, unsure how to correctly respond, and settled on keeping her face as blank as possible.

Stoic.

That was her. Stoic Anna.

"Your majesty," yet another minister, one of the generals, said. "Pardon my assumptions, but you seem to be advocating a break of trade at the very least."

"Is that so surprising?" Elsa said.

The table broke out into chaos. Ministers shouted at her, with her other. Hands banged against the polished wood. Anna pressed herself further back against the wall as one minster in particular started a tirade against the ceiling about the economic dangers that just a _rumor_ of stopping trade could cause.

Elsa presided over all of it with only the smallest slip of a frown.

Soon, their passion spent, the noise died down.

"Personally," one finally said. "I'm curious to know what Princess Anna thinks."

Anna blinked as the entire room's attention swiveled back to her.

"M-me?" she asked. "Why?"

"You're the one who's had the most recent acquaintance with him," he said. "Therefore you have the best current judgement of his character."

Anna felt like kicking the wall behind her.

One day. Couldn't she have had just _one day_ of rest and relaxation?

Was that really too much to have asked for?

But at the same time she had to say something. The rest of the ministers were gazing at her expectantly. Across the table Elsa stood with her arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"So, umm… obviously, he's not a saint," Anna started. She glanced at Kristoff out of hope for encouragement, and then realized that he hadn't been there for any of the things she was about to say. "There's a… well, an opportunistic part of him that I don't think will _ever_ change. He didn't marry Princess Josephine for love, but at the same time, I mean, that's not really a _crime_. And even if he was a jerk marrying her just for her position, I don't think he _killed_ her… or her father. That is to say, there's no proof of any-" She paused as Elsa flinced at the 'p' word. Anna sighed. "What I'm trying to say is I think we should give him, and his people, the benefit of the doubt…" As the temperature dropped by several degrees, she added, "…for now."

"Thank you. Anna," Elsa bit out, "for that lovely defense of a man who doesn't deserve it." She surveyed the table with narrow eyes. "I take it you all agree with my sister."

The ministers muttered amongst themselves.

"We would never overrule you, Your Majesty," one said. "Regardless of our thoughts on the matter, we will defer to your judgement."

"But you are all agreed?" she asked.

The ministers all glanced at each other before nodding back out-of-sync.

Their answer was met with silence.

Anna bit her lip as ice started to curl its way up the side of the envelope Elsa was holding. It climbed, further and further, beforing shattering, destroying the envelope with it.

Elsa took a calm, deep breath as if nothing had happened.

"A wise queen rules with both her heart _and_ her head," Elsa finally said. "She makes the judgements she personally thinks are best for her people, but… it's also important to listen to the advice of others." She sighed. "Very well. Arendelle will maintain trade with the five kingdoms under his control… For now."

* * *

When Anna had been packing her stuff in Corona, she'd made a giant list of _all_ the things she wanted to do again when she got home: sledding through the castle hallways, actual sledding in the mountains (despite Rapunzel and Eugene's protests, the giant rock formations in Corona were hills, _not_ mountains, thank you very much), picnics by the waterfalls, plays in the square complete with Olaf's not-so-quiet commentary…

And she had raced through so many of them in her first week, checking off at least four a day. She had been pumped. She had been more than just Anna, she'd been… she'd been like a Super Anna!

…and then her energy had started to flag.

There were still things on her list she wanted to do, even more things she'd forgotten to write down… but she wasn't actually getting anything done by doing them. And she wasn't _not_ getting anything done by _not_ doing them either.

One afternoon, Anna dragged Kristoff out on a summer shopping spree. As they left the fifth shop arms ladened with bags, Anna stopped at the storefront window and stared at her reflection.

She tried a smile.

It looked okay, but it felt fake. Everything felt fake… like it was all just part of an extended vacation from her _actual_ life. The giant part of her that'd missed Arendelle was quickly getting filled up by a part that missed Corona.

Was this her fate now? To be caught between two different countries, never completely satisfied with either? Half of Anna wondered if she would've been happier never leaving Arendelle. The other half didn't want to trade those memories for the world.

Well.. not _all_ those memories.

Nothing but a small, puny dagger between her and a pack of wolves. Trudging up that mountain, feet numb, hands numb, face alternating between burning and numb as she was tugged along by a red-haired jerk. A wince as he sliced her palm open.

Anna shifted her bags over and looked down at her hand.

A line still extended across it, hair thin and pale again the rest of her skin.

Then Kristoff called out her name and she moved along.

* * *

Anna continued writing to Rapunzel. Rapunzel continued writing back. Weeks turned into months with no crazy news. Corona remained firmly Corona while Hans' kingdoms remained… well, Hans' kingdoms.

With everything settling into a new status quo, Anna tried to ask Elsa about the possibility of returning to Corona. She'd catch her sister sometimes in the hall or between bites of breakfast before she dashed off to her first meetings of the day.

Despite her best efforts, Anna could never seem to get more than half a sentence before Elsa responded with a quick, "not right now, Anna." Then she'd scoot her chair back and practically glide out of the breakfast hall.

Of course, there were always the quiet evenings in the castle library… or the rare days where Elsa took the day off and went summer sledding with the rest of them… but then Anna didn't feel like ruining the fun. Her sister was so stressed these days…

* * *

Arendelle's mid-summer festival was a highlight of the season. Ships from all over the world flooded the main harbor, old and young alikeguests flooded the ballroom, and - mostly importantly - rich, gooey cheese flooded the two-meter-tall fondue pot. Kristoff had indulged with her for awhile before getting called away to talk with a fellow Royal Ice Deliver from the neighboring kingdom.

"Ambassador Anna!"

She paused with her bread mid-dip.

That was a title-name combo she hadn't heard for awhile.

Not one to waste good food, she popped the piece in her mouth and chewed as fast as possible, thumping herself in the chest as it stuck slightly in her throat half-way down.

"Hello!" Anna said as soon as the piece dislodged. She paused, trying to remember the half-stranger's name. Her eyes widened. "Lord Renaldo! It's been forever! What brings you to Arendelle?"

"What else," the black-haired lord said, gesturing to the spectacle of the surrounding ballroom. "Is it really true the sun won't set at all tonight?"

"Nope!" Anna said in glee. "Won't for another two weeks at least."

"Oh my… Well, bless the Lord for thick curtains."

"Ha ha, I know the feeling."

The two began chatting about the current inter-kingdom affairs, with Anna sneaking a new piece of fondue-dipped bread whenever she could socially-acceptably manage. Midway through her third piece, Renaldo waved over several nearby lords and ladies Anna remembered. She mostly worked on chewing as the rest greeted her.

"Ambassador Anna!"

"Your highness, how good it is to see you again!"

"Looking in fine health I see. See, Jaques, that's that fine northern air I told you about."

"Northern air, ha! It's always been the girl herself brightens up the place," Lord Jaques said. Back in Corona she'd worked with him on a couple of projects. He turned to Anna. "Just so you know, the Coronan meeting rooms have been insufferably dingy since you've left."

"Oh," Anna said, cheeks bright red. "All of you are just _way_ too kind."

"Nonsense," Lord Jaques said. "It's only natural to miss a paperwork comrade in arms. Any current word on when you might be back?" He gave a small cough. "Or could your extended stay here be because you weren't satisfied with the work?"

"No!" Anna blurted out. "Not at all! I loved my work! I loved all of you guys! It's just… you know… well…" She bit her lip, trying to think of a way to diplomatically phrase her sister's security concerns. "Well, the situation with King Hans at the moment is very… it's very unique."

She was met with knowing nods and glances around the circle.

"But you know, Lady Anna," an older woman said. "If that's the one… issue you're concerned about, you really shouldn't be. I've seen no changes to my day to day life… have any of you?"

The rest of the group shook their heads.

"So do you plan to come back to Corona?" Lord Renaldo asked.

"Yes. Of course," Anna said, before pausing slightly. "But as for the exact date, I'd have to talk with my sister first… arrange the travel…" She gave a small laugh. "Elsa _is_ the queen, you know?"

"Oh! If you're coming back, you simply have to be back by September 17th!" Lord Renaldo said.

"Wait, September what?"

"My daughter's birthday! She absolutely fell in love with the mermaid themed party that you helped throw for her last year! Not a week goes by without her begging me to get you to throw another!"

"Oh, that was just a weekend thing that I…" Anna blushed. "I had no idea I'd made such an impact."

"So you'll be back in time for it? I'll let her know if so!"

Anna's heart pounded against her chest. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for some kind of escape, some distraction… Elsa and Kristoff were both surrounded by foreign dignitaries while Olaf seemed to be entertaining the younger guests by taking his nose in and out. In the end, Anna was left with no option but to promise Lord Renaldo that, yes, she would try and do her best to be back in Corona in time for the little girl's birthday.

Satiated with her answer, the lords and ladies slowly drifted away to other groups of chatter, leaving Anna alone to bury the unease in her stomach with more fondue.

* * *

Anna hesitated outside the door of Elsa's work room.

Once, when Elsa had turned down an ice fishing invitation so she could finish reviewing a document about lutefisk quality control, Anna had joked about renaming it the "no fun times" room. She'd gotten a single exasperated sign in response and had since learned to stay far away when her sister was trying to actually concentrate on stuff.

Which would've been fine if Elsa hadn't been spending more and more of her waking time there over the last few weeks.

Anna clutched her fist to her chest. She could do this. She'd become an expert at debating with the reflection in her mirror. Time to move up to the next level.

She knocked on the door.

"Elsa?" Anna ventured after a few seconds of silence. _Do you want to build a snowman? _"It's Anna… Could I talk to you for just a minute?"

More silence greeted her in response.

Finally an answer came, muffled as it passed through the thick doors.

"Come in."

She supposed that was a good sign of something, part of her plan going to… well, plan.

Anna slunk into her sister's study. It felt like a miniaturized version of the council room. Every piece of furniture in the room was stark and solid, gentled only by the small flourishes of blue and white paint. On the wall to her right, hung a map of the kingdoms, differing only from the council room's one by size.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Anna tore her attention from the map to see Elsa staring at her calmly, hands folded together and resting on her work desk.

"Oh, right," Anna said. "Yes. So…" She took a deep breath. "I know, as my older sister and the queen, you're primarily concerned about my safety - and you have every right to be, _but_ at the same time… Corona _is_ our trusted ally and completely free of the-"

"Anna, if this about you returning to Corona again, my answer is still no."

Anna stared at her.

"What?! But it's- It's safe!"

"We don't know that for sure."

"You might not," Anna said, "but I _do_. How can you even say stuff like that? You've never even been there!"

"I don't _need_ to have been there to get reports…" Elsa frowned. "And regardless of your personal experiences with it, you could hardly say it's a model of-" She paused, then started again. "They share a border with Hans' kingdoms now. Corona's capital is just a day's ride away. If war broke out, you'd be trapped there under siege."

"That's an extremely _big_ 'if,'" Anna said. "Weideland never started any of the attacks, and I hardly doubt Aunt Primrose and Uncle Thomas are going to-"

"Not to mention the issue of the king's death. Still unsolved if I'm not mistaken."

Anna rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure," she muttered. "If you consider every single normal heart attack unsolved."

"Anna. Look me dead in the eyes and tell me you truly believe that," Elsa said. "One hundred percent. No suspicions about Hans' possible involvement whatsoever."

Anna squirmed under her sister's blue, piercing glare. She wanted to say something… wanted to lie and say, yes, everything was _obviously_ one giant, simple coincidence…

Elsa sighed.

"You've proven my point," she said. "There are just still too many unknowns right now. You're staying here until the situation settles."

"But the situation _has_ settled!" Anna cried out.

Anna took a deep breath, trying to string back all her carefully planned arguments from derailing more than they already had. That didn't work so well when her metaphorical train had already crashed off the bridge and was in free fall.

"You don't understand the work I've been able to do there!" Anna said. She bit back a groan of frustration. Why couldn't Elsa understand? "If I stay here much longer, I'm going lose my place on the consul!"

"It's just a job, Anna," Elsa said in an almost bored tone that set Anna's teeth on edge. "There's lots of work here you can do if you're that eager."

Anna's throat stung.

"Right," she said. "Just a job." She snorted. "That's rich, coming from _you_."

Elsa's eyes snapped open wide, and Anna realized she'd said the wrong thing.

"Is that what you think this is?" Elsa said. "Me trying to deliberately sabotage your dream job?" Elsa finally stood up and moved around her desk, started to reach out, but Anna keeps her hands clenched tightly in front of her, buried in the folds of her dress. Elsa frowned. "I want you to be happy, Anna. I really do. But I also want you to be _safe_."

"I _am_ safe. You just don't…"

Memories rushed back.

Elsa being escorted out of view, deliberating hiding herself out of view… the castle gates pulled shut with a dull boom, and Anna waiting for days afterwards for them to reopen before it'd finally dawned that they weren't… playing by herself in the courtyard, her one remaining access to trees and dirt and snow and the sky… watching the world go past through frosted windows…

Anna laughed.

"Great. You're keeping me safe, by keeping me locked up in here." Anna shook her head. "So much for never closing the gates again."

Elsa flinched.

"That's not what I'm-"

"Yes! Yes it is! You're being _them_!"

"Anna, there is a big difference between locking us in the castle and not wanting you to prance off to country on the brink of war!"

"It's not on the brink of war!" Anna shouted. "Something you would understand if you'd actually _been_ there!" She let out a snort. "But, wait. I forgot. The queen who knows _sooooo_ much about the world and reads _soooo_ many reports has never taken a single _step_ outside her kingdom!"

Elsa's fists clenched together at her sides, her fingers turning white from where they pressed against each other. Her chest moved in and out in slow, measured, deathly silent breaths. Anna's own breaths were coming out in icy puffs. Frost coated the nearby surfaces.

"This conversation is over," Elsa said.

She moved back around her desk and retook her seat.

"But-!"

Elsa silenced her younger sister with a raised hand.

"You've heard my opinions on this matter, and my decision is final." She paused, then gave a small nod at the door. "You may leave."

Anna stared at her sister, her mouth hanging slightly open in equal parts frustration and disbelief. She imagined herself slamming her palms against Elsa's desk, yelling about the unfairness of it all until she finally got a raw, open reaction in return…

Anna swallowed. The lump stuck painfully in her throat for a few seconds, and then she stormed out of her sister's study, slamming the door shut behind her.

* * *

The sun still hung low in the sky as the clocks chimed midnight. Anna stopped in her pacing to glare at it, and then threw her bedroom curtains shut. The room now in darkness, she flumped down on her bed.

How could Elsa…

She was just _sooo_…

How could she not see that…

Anna let out a scream into her pillow.

Over the years, Anna had always considered Elsa an excellent debater. Someone who never let her emotions fluster her on her path to intellectual victory. Now she realized she'd been giving her sister _way_ too much credit. Debates could hardly be called 'debates' when "it's my decision and it's final" ended every argument.

Still, Anna couldn't just shut up and stay in Arendelle, regardless of Elsa's thoughts about safety.

Anna had seen Elsa's version of safety. Her _true_ version of safety: get yourself away from every other living person and lock yourself up in a giant ice palace. Deep down in their hearts, nothing had changed much… not really. Elsa's worries would win over reasoned arguments, and if Anna tried again, she'd probably end up frozen to the wall.

Anna sighed.

Well, okay. It probably wouldn't be _that_ dramatic. But there would be ice _somewhere_, that's for sure.

And it wasn't like she could just _ignore_ Elsa and go back to Corona anyway…

Anna sat upright.

That was it.

She could just ignore Elsa and go back to Corona anyway. That is, when it came right down to it… it wasn't like there was any _law_ she was breaking by leaving. She could hardly be arrested and thrown in the dungeons until she'd learned the errors of her ways.

Well… Elsa _could_ strip her from her consul spot since it was a government appointment. But even if that happened, Anna would still be back in Corona. And after she was there a month or so… maybe two… or, okay, three assuming Elsa got _really_ upset… but after no more than three months, Elsa would see that Anna was doing just fine and was perfectly safe and there wouldn't be any reason for Anna _not_ to be reinstated on the consul.

Assuming Elsa even took her off in the first place.

Her new plan firmly decided, Anna hopped off her bed. She threw open the curtains again and sat down at her small vanity, pulling open the drawer filled with letter paper and fountain pens.

Anna paused with the point of one of the pens on her tongue - beginnings were always tricky, especially when they had to be formal - and then began to write.


	16. Act Two: Part Six

"I don't want to talk about it," Anna said from the floor of her cousin's bedroom. Rapunzel paused halfway through braiding Anna's hair.

"Are you sure?"

Anna let out a huff. "I'm sure."

It'd been six hours since her ship had docked into Corona's main harbor. It'd been six hours since the end of her worst ship ride ever.

Anna's eyes drooped with shadows, a lingering souvenir of her paranoia that Elsa was going to show up, she was going to freeze the bow, she was going to push the ship back to Arendelle with her magic, she was going to get another boat to intercept them and issue a warrant for Anna's arrest. None of it would've been surprising, given…

Well…

"What on earth are you doing?" Elsa had demanded.

Anna froze on the gangplank along with the porters that'd been carrying her trunk. She tried to motion them forward but a princess's command held the weight of a sugar feather next to a queen's.

"Going to Corona," Anna said. "Obviously."

"I thought I said 'no'!"

"Yes, you did. And I'm going anyway."

The sailors on the surrounding ships stopped work to watch the spectacle. At the edge of the docks, townspeople were starting to gather. Kristoff wasn't among them; Anna had asked him to stay in the castle, prevent Elsa from finding out about her departure.

So much for that plan.

Elsa took a deep breath. "This is silly, Anna. Get these men to carry your things back to the castle and we'll talk about this there."

"Why is it silly? Because it's my plan and not yours?"

"You know that has nothing to do with this." She sighed. "Besides, using crown money for personal travel without prior consultation is—"

"I didn't use the crown's money!" Anna snapped. "I used my own money! Money I got from my job that you seem to hate so much!"

Ice rippled out across the dock. "That _job_ is not what's important right now," Elsa said between measures breaths. "And I don't know what I have to do to make you understand that."

"That's because you _can't_ do anything! That job is my _life_."

"I can get you another one here in Arendelle."

"No!"

"Anna… If you take another step up that gangplank, you won't have any job to go back to! I'll officially ban you from the consulate!"

Anna gasped, her chest tight. She wanted to scream out that Elsa wasn't allowed to do that even as years of studying government policy had taught her otherwise.

Elsa _was_ allowed to do that.

Elsa was allowed to do almost anything.

Tears welled at the corners of Anna's eyes. She resisted the urge to wipe them away with the back of her hand.

"Fine," Anna bit out. "I'm going away."

She turned around and started back up the gangplank, past the porters still frozen with her trunk.

"Anna!" Elsa called out. "I… I… I forbid you from leaving this country!"

Anna stopped.

That was one of the powers her sister _didn't_ have. There were laws that could stop people from entering Arendelle but almost none that could stop them from escaping.

She turned back around.

Elsa remained standing on the now fully ice-coated docks, her fists clenched together at her sides. Trembling.

"The only way you can stop me is by charging me with a crime," Anna said. "So what it will be? Sibling disobedience? Intent to have fun? Or maybe just plain, fake, old charge of treason?"

When her sister hadn't answer, Anna had boarded the ship. She'd reassured the captain that it was fine to continue the voyage as planned, and then had stowed herself away in her cabin with only the water to distract her as it'd sloshed itself against the outside of the hull.

Anna picked at the edges of her fingernails as Rapunzel resumed braiding her hair. The heat from the fireplace radiated outwards in uneven flickers. The clock on the wall ticked forward through the night.

"Because," Rapunzel said. "If you ever _do_ need to talk—"

"I said I'm _fine_."

"Right, right! Shutting up," she said. "Shutting up…"

* * *

Autumn passed in an orange blur.

Despite Elsa's official ban, Anna's abilities and experience working with the consulate granted her special access to stacks and stacks of under-the-table work. Anna wasn't sure how _legal _it all was, but seeing as how she wasn't getting paid for any of it, there weren't any immediate budgetary issues with any of it.

Besides, she'd drummed up enough of a positive reputation that no one wanted to spark royal sibling drama by tattling over a few smudged guidelines.

As for the Kingdom of Corona itself, despite being of the few holdouts from Hans' seemingly ever-growing super-kingdom, day to day life went on as Anna and Rapunzel had always known it. Granted, food was a bit more expensive than before, but that could be traced back to shifting trade pacts and lingering effects of the storm two summers ago.

"Stuff just doesn't want to _sprout_ the way it used to," the Minister of Agriculture told Anna after one dinner.

And then, before she knew it, the kingdom was preparing for Christmas again. It was her second Christmas away from home, the second in a row.

For whatever reason, Anna couldn't seem to let herself get swept up in the seasonal cheer. Nights became restless, mornings lost their already brittle shine.

She wanted Kristoff here, she wanted Olaf, she wanted _someone_…

Olaf couldn't come visit her; she'd made peace with that. None of them knew how permanent Elsa's magic was on him or if it'd last several kingdoms away, and none of them wanted to try.

Kristoff on the other hand…

Kristoff had visited her a couple times over the past months, but he'd never been able to stay for long. Apparently while people could move freely between kingdoms, reindeers needed a special permit. One that Elsa wasn't willing to provide. And even though Anna knew it was unfair to expect Kristoff to pack up everything and leave Sven behind to live with her in Corona and she knew just how important Sven was to Kristoff, as the months grew stormier and Kristoff's visits grew less frequent before cutting off for the season entirely, Anna couldn't help but lie back in her bed sometimes and think about how she was playing second fiddle to a _reindeer_.

The week before the great day itself, Anna received a letter of apology from Elsa. It made no mention of Corona though, instead promising her a place with a different consulate in a fellow northern kingdom.

Far, _far_ to the north.

Far away from Corona.

Anna was more than happy to shove the letter in the bottom drawer of her desk and forget about it.

And then Christmas itself came and went with the same lasting emotional weight as the time it took to physically cross off the day on her calendar.

Oh, she went through all the usual motions: she gave and opened presents, she went into the city with Rapunzel and Eugene to watch the carolers, and she even managed a smile towards the end. But after dinner, when she'd been spoon deep in a delicious pudding, Anna suddenly began thinking about all the work she could be getting done instead.

And that disturbed her more than anything else.

* * *

The day after New Year's was grey and drizzly. Anna ate breakfast with Rapunzel and Aunt Primrose, the men of the family apparently too drained from the weather to drag themselves out of bed. Aunt Primrose read the two girls the daily mail between bites.

"Oh," she said, holding up one. "Wallonia's crown prince is getting married. Well… _former_ crown prince."

A chill swept through their table. The people of Corona didn't like to talk about the recent changes to the royal status quo.

Rapunzel glanced at Anna then back to her mother.

"Who's the bride?" Rapunzel asked.

"Miss Augusta Braum. The daughter of a tailor, apparently."

"How great for them! Will it be a June wedding?"

"No," Aunt Primrose said. "It'll be in…" She frowned, squinting, then her eyes snapped wide. "Two weeks?!"

"Wait, what?"

"Two weeks," she repeated. "That's what's written. Apparently their hearts couldn't put it off any longer." Aunt Primrose shook her head, then passed the letter over to Rapunzel who had her hand out.

"So," Anna said. "Are we going to go?"

Rapunzel and Aunt Primrose looked at each other. Aunt Primrose coughed.

"Several of the roads are still blocked with snow. Not to mentioned that Wallonia's now under—" She cleared her throat. "It will probably be fine if we just send a congratulatory letter."

Anna clinked her fork against the purple-filagreed porcelain. "Could… I go then?"

"You?" Aunt Primrose asked.

"Yeah. I mean, it's been a while since I've go anywhere new, and I'm more than used to snow travel by now."

Aunt Primrose frowned. "Well," she said. "You _are_ a grown woman capable of making her own travel plans. You can go anywhere you want, I suppose, but consider taking some of our royal guards along."

"Are you sure about this, Anna?" Rapunzel asked. "A wedding sounds like fun now, but it's the middle of winter. You're not going to be able to see anything and you're not going to know anyone there."

Anna grinned. "I will if you come with me."

"Oh, Anna. I'd love to, but…" The two looked across the table; Aunt Primrose was vigorously shaking her head in short, tight movements. "It's just, you remember that terrible accident last month in Summershire with Princess Sybil and that old bridge? As Corona's crown princess and, really, _only_ princess, it's probably safer that I stay put when the weather's a bit dodgy like this."

Crown princess.

Right. Crown princesses were the important ones in the world.

The spares could do whatever they wanted.

"You're probably right," Anna said before starting to pick at the rest of her meal.

Rapunzel bit her lip. "So…" she said. "Have any idea about what you'll wear?"

It was a ploy to get them back onto a lighter topic and Anna knew it. At the same time, lighter topics were nice. She played along.

"Oh my God," Anna said, perking up. "I hadn't even thought about that yet. Let's see… if the wedding is two weeks from now, and it'll take several days to get there through the snow…" Anna gasped. "I need to start looking for something today!"

"Oh! Mother, can I go to the dress shops with Anna?"

Aunt Primrose sighed. "If you stop talking and ever get around to eating at least a quarter of what's on your plate, the two of you can do whatever you want."

Rapunzel grinned at Anna, and then the two started scarfing down their food as fast as possible.

* * *

The wedding ceremony was beautiful. It took place in a beautiful ancient church with a beautiful, untouched layer of snow outside and an equally beautiful, lace-covered bride at its alter.

But as with all beautiful ancient churches in the winter, a not-so-beautiful draft blew its way in through the cracks.

Anna shivered in her newest blue gown, the priest droning on and _on_, until the duchess sitting next to Anna had the mercy to pass her a thick shawl. Unfortunately the shawl was so comfortable that Anna forgot to pass it back after the ceremony, only remembering once the woman was no longer anywhere in sight. When the dancing started, Anna kept it draped around her shoulders as she hung against the sides of the ballroom, channeling her inner old maid.

Twenty-two years old and no closer to marriage than she'd been four years ago. Of course, Anna had no one to blame but herself. If she'd been happy in Arendelle, if she'd just… _settled down_, they could've arranged a ceremony between her and Kristoff ages ago.

Assuming that was what she really wanted.

She sighed.

"Excuse me, my lady," a voice said, tapping her on the shoulder. "Might I have the honor of having this next dance with you?"

Anna blinked. The man behind her was tall, brown-haired, and rather fetching.

"Oh," she said. "Sure. I mean, yes. Totally."

Because hadn't this been part of her reason for coming? To find herself a bit of new excitement?

But despite the romantic swell of the violins, and the precision with which Anna and her partner glided around the ballroom floor, there was no spark at their touch. Nothing that sparkled between any of their light-hearted. Which… perhaps was for the best? Had Anna really been hoping for something that could potentially through a wrench between her and Kristoff after they'd been through so much together?

So when the song ended, Anna politely declined the brown-haired man's request for a second dance and accepted another gentleman's offer instead. And then another… and another…

After a particularly lively number, Anna excused herself from the small crowd she'd gathered to both breathe and go and raid the dessert table. She reclaimed an empty spot by the wall, hunkered down with her chocolate cake, and watched the newlywed couple dance.

Anna didn't feel sad, exactly. Just… empty.

Rapunzel was right; she'd been childish in coming here. If she wasn't happy in Arendelle or Corona, she wasn't going to magically feel better by running somewhere new.

Because that wasn't how problems worked.

Well, at least that wasn't how _her_ problems worked.

Anna sighed and took a bite of cake that was almost too big for her mouth, chewing awkwardly as she thought.

But if her two options were to either stay in Corona and be unhappy, or go back to Arendelle and be unhappy while Elsa paraded how right she'd been in Anna's face, Anna would stay put in Corona until… until… until her _bones_ rotted.

Not that Anna wasn't open to compromise - far from it, seeing how it was part of her unofficial duties - but compromise was hardly an option when her sister refused to budge an _inch_.

She felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me," yet another man asked behind her. His voice was somewhat familiar. "Such a fine evening… I was wondering if you'd possibly care to dance?"

Her mouth was only halfway through the piece of cake. She turned around, planning to let the man down easy as soon as she finished swallowing.

Anna froze.

It was Hans.

* * *

**A/N: Woohoo, and I am back in the saddle! Expect a new chapter every two weeks from now until December. I am knocking back the rest of Act Two and all of Act Three.**

**Prepare yourselves.**


	17. Act Two: Part Seven

Anna coughed, slamming her fist against her chest in her struggle to breathe.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded as soon as her throat cleared. "I didn't see you at the ceremony, or the dinner, or—"

Hans smirked. "What can I say? I like to keep a low profile."

Anna raked her eyes up and down his figure; he was wearing a rich, navy-blue jacket that contrasted deeply against the golden epaulettes on his shoulders… and the golden crown now adorning his head.

"Low profile," Anna repeated. "Says the king of five kingdoms."

"Six, actually, the last time I counted," he corrected with a hint of joviality.

Anna bit her lip.

That was the elephant lurking in the room despite his obvious cheer about it… or maybe his cheer just inflated the size. Anna had spent the past year concocting theories and pouring over field dispatches, trying to reconcile what she knew of Hans' past with the words that'd been printed down by various spies and generals.

Of course, if he _had_ done something diabolical to gain those territories, there was no way he'd answer any of her direct questions about it.

Anna dipped into a curtsy. "My condolences," she said.

"Condolences?"

"For the loss of your father-in-law." She frowned. "I know it happened over a year ago, but…"

Hans took a deep breath. "Yes… you were there for that, weren't you?"

Anna forced herself to keep looking at him.

In her mind's eye, she was back at the dinner table, the King of Weideland gasping for air. His face was turning colors—

Anna handed her empty plate to a passing servant and crossed her arms. "Alright," she said, deciding to ignore her own advice about direct questions. "Pleasantries are done. What's been happening? Really?"

Hans blinked. "What's been happening with what?"

"Ugh… You know! This!" Anna snapped, jabbing her finger at the crown on his head.

"You're still working for the Arendelle consulate, aren't you?"

Anna lifted an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"So you've been reading the inter-kingdom dispatches?"

"Well, yes. But—"

"Then you know all there is to know."

Anna puffed up. "You really think I'm falling for that?" she warned. "That six kingdoms would all suddenly — _randomly_ — decide to declare—"

"Five," he corrected.

"—war on you and then just all up and lose? And then sign over all their rights and lands and independence in the resulting peace treaties? Stuff doesn't work that way."

"Well, you know what they say," Hans said. "Truth is stranger than fiction."

Anna took a deep breath. "Why did they declare war?"

"I thought you said you'd read the dispatches," he said. He ignored Anna's resulting grumbles and pointed to the shawl still wrapped around her shoulders. "Is that a new fashion trend or are you just being weird as normal?"

Anna inhaled sharply.

First he'd knocked aside her — quite reasonable — questions, trying to make her seem like the ignorant one when it came to inter-kingdom politics, and then when that didn't work he—

Anna exhaled in a large huff and stormed away.

Past the pastries table lay one of the fruits tables, its surface covered with exotic shapes and colors imported from all over the world, delicacies in the middle of winter.

"I never said 'weird' was a bad thing," she heard behind her. Great. Hans was following her. "Everything we take for granted now probably started off as something weird."

Anna ignored him. If he wouldn't answer her about the things she wanted to talk about, she wouldn't answer him. She focused her attention on the fruit table, her eyes passing over bananas, grapefruits, oranges… before settling on a basket of plain apples. She picked one up, testing its weight in her hands.

"So how are things with that Kristoff man of yours?" Hans drawled.

She paused. "You got his name right," she said, still facing the table.

"I'm not without my talents," he said. "Although… I can't also help but notice he isn't with you tonight. Going through some kind of a rough patch?"

"No," Anna said simply. She bit her tongue against saying, _'even if we were, it wouldn't be any of your business.' _Hans would find the chink in that, use it against her.

"Hmmm…" Hans made a clicking sound with his tongue. "I would've guessed otherwise based on the number of other men you danced with tonight."

Anna whirled around and glared at him. He had the audacity to look pleasantly bemused.

"What do you want, Hans?" she demanded.

"Haven't I already said?" He held out his hand. "To dance with you."

Anna crinkled her nose as she looked down on it. "You really want the honor of being next in a long line of… what was it? 'Other men'?"

"Not quite…" he said with a smirk.

Anna frowned, then started walking the length of the refreshment tables at a slow enough pace that he'd take it as an invitation to follow. "And if I said no?" she asked, fingers gripping the apple.

"Then I'll keep asking."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Some people would call that stalking."

"Mmm… matter of perspective."

"Actually, I don't think it is…" Her frowned deepened as she turned at him. "Why are you here, Hans?"

Hans looked around. "It's a royal wedding," he said. "Well, ex-royal wedding. Why wouldn't I be?"

"No," Anna said. "I mean, why are you here with _me_? At this table? Right now? Why aren't you off talking to the happy couple or random dignitaries or, I don't know… someone useful?"

"Useful?"

"Yes. Useful. I know that's all you really care about in the end," Anna said. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "It's okay. You don't have to lie with me." She looked down at the apple, turning it over in her hands. "You only cared about me at Elsa's coronation because of our throne, and then later the real reason you needed me was to get past that barrier in the cave. You told me yourself that you only cared about Josephine because she was the crown princess. But now you have everything you've always wanted, so there's no reason to—"

Anna's vision blurred and for a split-second, the apple in her hands was yellow.

Then she blinked and it was back to its deep red.

She frowned.

"Anna?" Hans asked.

"What," she said, not taking her eyes off the fruit.

The next thing she knew, he'd plucked it out of her grasp and was placing it gently on the tablecloth of the nearest able. He reached out his hand.

"Dance with me," he said.

Anna stared at him.

She waited for some trumpet player to leap out of the nearby crowd and blow a sad _wah-wah-waaah_ into her ear. Instead, the conductor at the front of the ballroom tapped his baton against his music stand and a single violinist started playing a new tune…

An invitation…

Anna stared at his hand, then flicked her eyes back up to his face. He looked as honest and open as he'd been during the night of Elsa's coronation — Anna frowned — which hadn't actually been honest or open at all. But there'd been an angle back then; he'd been twelfth-in-line for the throne and she'd been first. If he had some diabolical scheme he was playing out where this dance fit in as a crucial lynch-pin, Anna was failing to see it.

If she was smart, she'd say 'no.'

If she was less diplomatically smart, she'd laugh in his face and _then_ say 'no.'

Anna sighed.

"Whatever," she muttered. "But just the one."

She reached out her hand halfway, then let out a small yelp as he took it and practically twirled her into place. His hand curled warm and firm around her waist as she placed hers lightly against his shoulder.

Anna swallowed, heat flushing across her cheeks. It'd been over four years since the last time they'd danced. She'd forgotten how… _natural_ it felt.

He probably practiced it though. It probably felt natural for everyone.

It probably felt natural of Princess Josephine…

Anna repeated that thought over and over to keep herself anchored. They waited for the start of the next eight-bar phrase, and then Hans began to lead her in slow, wide circles around the ballroom. They danced in silence until Anna spotted the aforementioned 'happy couple' through the other dancers.

Prince Frederick of Wallonia.

He'd been the Crown Prince of Wallonia… until a certain _someone_ had stolen every single scrap of independence from his kingdom.

"What is it now?" Hans asked without missing a step.

Anna realized she'd been openly frowning. "Nothing," she said. "It's just… Okay. Even I believe you about the dispatches being true—"

"Which they are."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Even if the other kingdoms were the ones that started the attacks, that doesn't mean you had to go out and actively conquer them. You could've… I don't know, forgive and forget? Let bygones be bygone?"

"Said no self-respecting ruler ever," Hans said, lifting her arm into another twirl. He pulled her back close. "They were the ones that declared war on _me. _Why should I forget any of it?"

"Okay, maybe 'forget' wasn't exactly the right word. I'm not saying you had to do _nothing_, but—"

"I didn't execute a single person after the surrenders," he said. "That's something."

"Oh great. You stopped short of murder," Anna said with a snort. "What a _shining_ pillar of moral character."

His fingers tightened against her waist. "For someone who claims to exactly understand me, you're sure questioning a lot," he whispered. "I'm not a saint. If the stars have aligned for once to grant me power, I'm not going to waste the effort to give it back away."

"And what next?" Anna asked, tightening her own grip on his shoulder. "If any other kingdoms just so _randomly_ decide to attack?"

"Then they'll meet the same swift and just fate as the rest."

Anna frowned.

"Why?" he asked. "Does Arendelle have any secret plans I should know about?"

Anna's eyes widened and she stumbled; Hans steadied her.

"No!" Anna said as he led her back into the dance. "Why would—? Our kingdom's not anywhere near yours!"

He shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time in history."

Anna's face reddened, flustered. Had she just jeopardized Arendelle's national security because of her own—?

Hans leaned close, his sideburns brushing against the side of her cheek. "Don't worry," he whispered into her ear. "I'm just messing with you."

Anna snapped her head back, nostrils flaring with rage. He smiled back. She wanted to slap it off of his face, but that would cause an international incident for sure.

She settled for murderous, fuming silence.

"So any new potential suitors?" Hans suddenly asked.

Anna blinked at him. "What?"

"The other men you danced with tonight. Any of them catch your fancy?"

"I already _told_ you," she groaned. "I'm with Kristoff."

"Right," he said, still way too smug about whatever he was thinking. "Right… of course."

"And you?"

"Me?"

"Yes," she said. "Any charming ladies stupid enough to think they can sweep you off your feet?"

"Not really. There might be one… though I'm hoping she's not _that_ stupid." Hans smirked at her, his eyes twinkling.

Damn it.

She'd walked straight into that one, hadn't she? At least the music seemed like it was coming to an end. She'd be able to run away or… something.

Anna drummed her fingers on his shoulder, ignoring his bait. "But surely someone like you has been dancing tonight? An unmarried king… Dozens of unmarried ladies…"

"I'm dancing right now."

As if on cue, the music slowed before finishing off in a low fermata. Anna stepped back from Hans and applaud politely with all the other dancers.

"Not anymore," she said with a smile.

He scowled back, but there was a playful glint in his eyes. "I jinxed myself with the timing of that, didn't I?"

Anna's smile widened into a grin. "Yep."

Hans shook his head as the violins started a new song. "Another?" he asked, holding out his hand.

Anna frowned.

"I told you, Hans… Just the one."

"But how am I going to find another partner as good as you?"

Anna rolled her eyes and gestured with her head to the rest of the room. "Lots of choices," she said as she adjusted the shawl on her shoulders. "I'd say start looking."

"And you?" he asked. "What are you going to do for the rest of the evening?"

She shrugged. "I don't know… Eat some more cake? Dance with more men? Find the castle kennel and pet some dogs? Honestly, I'm leaving my schedule kind of open." By the way his mouth was set in a flat line, that probably wasn't the answer he'd hoped to hear. Anna curtsied all the same with a mocking smile. "Good night, _your majesty_."

She turned and left, and had made it to the side of the ballroom when he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. Anna didn't bother asking him what he was doing. She stared levelly at him and waited for a response.

Hans' arms were locked to his sides. "You asked me earlier if I wanted to be the next man in your long line of partners," he said.

Anna lifted an eyebrow. That wasn't _exactly_ how she'd phrased it, but whatever.

"What if," he continued, "instead of being the next man in line, I told you I wanted to be the last?"

Anna stared at him.

She blinked… and then snorted in laughter. "I'd say those kinds of cheesy lines are below even you," she said.

Hans' shrugged. "Even a king needs a queen at some point in his life," he said without a hint of jest in his tone.

All remaining humor melted from her face. Anna stared at him, stiffly, her fists clenching at her sides.

"Don't even joke about that sort of thing," she said.

"Who said I was—"

"Miss!" a woman's voice called out from across the ballroom. "Oh, Miss!"

Anna turned. The old duchess she'd sat next to in the church was making her way through the small crowd lining the edges of the ballroom. She reached them, whipped out a blue, lace-covered fan from her silver-embroidered reticule and begun fanning herself.

"Oh," she said. "I almost thought I'd never find you again in this crowd."

Anna was already unwrapping the shawl from around her shoulders with wide eyes. "I am so sorry!" she said. "I didn't think I'd end up losing you like that. Thanks again so much for letting me borrow it."

"Not a problem. Not a problem," the duchess said as she took it from Anna and started rearranging it back on herself. "And who is this you're…" She blinked like she was noticing Hans for the first time. She gasped. "Your majesty! I had no idea you were here tonight!"

Her voice carried across to several people around them. Like a fog blowing away in the first morning wind, they glanced over and began to murmur.

"I swear," the duchess continued. "I must be losing my edge in these later years because I could've sworn I'd—"

The new crowd slowly pressed their way around Hans, distant relatives and lower officials alike hoping to get a personal word in, gain some personal favor. Anna took advantage of the rising discord to back away, slipping through them before escaping the ballroom entirely.

* * *

Anna's buried her face against neck of a giant Rottweiler. Its tongue drooped out as she moved her hands around and began scratching it behind the ears.

"That one's Buttercup," the kennel master told her.

Anna looked up. "Buttercup?"

The black dog must've weighed at least eighty pounds, and though he was happy and content now, she didn't want to imagine the carnage he could do to an unwanted intruder.

"My daughter's choice," the kennel master said with a shrug. "I let her come up with all the names these days."

Anna smiled. Buttercup nudged against her hand, and Anna realized she'd stopped scratching. She resumed her pampering, and the dog leaning back into her, nearly knocking her onto the floor of the castle's kennel before she stabilized herself. The kennel master nodded and went back to work, pacing the length of the room as he checked and re-filled water bowls in the cages of the other dogs.

Her hands moved from Buttercup's ears to the underside of his neck. Mid-scratch, the dog froze and then leapt from her light grasp. He growled at the open doorway to the kennel. Sensing their brother's unease, the other dogs started barking from behind their iron bars.

Seconds later, Hans appeared in the doorway. He wasn't wearing his crown.

Buttercup lunged, but the kennel master grabbed his collar and hauled him back. The dog's growls deepened into rough barks as he strained against his master's grip; it mixed together with the rest of the echoing cacophony behind him.

"I can see I'm not wanted," said Hans flatly.

"I'm so sorry, sir," the kennel master said. "I don't know what's gotten into him."

Anna stood. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to find you," Hans said, like it was obvious. "Our conversation from earlier was cut off on the wrong note."

"Oh? And what note would that be?"

Hans didn't answer.

Anna sighed. "Look, I don't know what you're thinking in that weird head of yours, but just… leave me out of it this time. Please."

"I see," he said, the line of his already grim mouth deepening into a frown. "So that's how things are going to be between us."

Buttercup snarled, the sound raising the hairs on the back of her neck as the kennel master again apologized for the dog's irregular behavior. Pushing past canine instincts and her own paranoia, Anna primarily felt annoyed. If she hadn't just heard it with her own ears, she wouldn't have believed it. Hans trying to _guilt trip_ her into… something? It was crazy.

_He_ was crazy.

"There's no us," Anna said firmly, crossing her arms. "And that's all your fault, remember?"

Hans took a deep breath.

"I suppose it was," he said. He abruptly swept into a low bow. "Good day, your highness. Do enjoy the rest of your…" He eyed the snarling dog. "…evening."

And then he left.

Buttercup continued snarling and barking at the spot Hans had stood for over a minute before the kennel master was able to calm him down.

"Who _was_ that?" the kennel master finally asked. "I've seen my boys and girls turn nasty before, but that was… that was something else."

As soon as he let Buttercup's collar go, it barrelled protectively over to Anna. She reached out a hand, stroking its fur absentmindedly. Her eyes didn't leave the doorframe.

"I… I'm not sure I know anymore."

* * *

Anna stretched her arms as her carriage rumbled up the streets of Corona. She'd survived yet another full-day's journey and was aching to leap out the door and run the rest of the way to castle. Decorum won over though and she waited until the carriage had come to a complete and full stop.

A fresh layer of frost coated the cobbles of the capital; it crunched beneath her boots as she took her first steps of the past four hours.

"Anna!"

She looked up and grinned. Rapunzel and her parents were at the top of the steps. They both raced towards each other and pulled themselves into a giant hug.

"How was the wedding?" Rapunzel asked excitedly. "Did you meet anyone new? Oh, I was suppose to say dinner's ready! I'm sure we can talk all about it then."

Anna kept her smile on her face, but it was there by conscious choice now.

_Did you meet anyone new?_

Ha.

Ha ha.

During her two day journey back, Anna had prayed to God that no one other than the duchess had noticed her and Hans together. That even if someone had, they'd have the common decency to keep their mouth shut about it.

Oh, Rapunzel wouldn't care too much, but if word ever leaked back to her sister that Anna had voluntarily danced with their shared, attempted murder… she was a dead woman.

Temporary madness.

Anna could always claim temporary madness, couldn't she?

Still, based on Rapunzel's current, cheery disposition and lack of questions, it seemed like she was safe. For now.

Anna let Rapunzel ask her question after question about the bride and the groom while Aunt Primrose and Uncle Thomas inquired about some of the older guests — second cousins of theirs — and their general health. Eugene met up with them at the dinner table.

The first course was brought out as Anna was describing the stained glass of the church that the wedding ceremony had been held in. The second course came as she was describing the capital city of Wallonia itself; she'd lingered a couple days after the wedding to see the sights.

Thank God Hans hadn't shown up for that as well.

"Ah," her Aunt Primrose sighed. "Wallonia has always such a beautiful kingdom." She turned to her husband. "Don't you remember when—"

"Yes, dear. The canals at night."

Aunt Primrose smiled and then shook her head. "Such a shame what's happened to it. What that… man has done."

Anna swallowed nervously. She didn't need to ask what man her aunt was talking about.

"Speaking of…" Rapunzel said. "He didn't show up to the wedding, did he?"

Anna paused with her fork halfway to her mouth.

"Oh," she said. "Umm… I…" She couldn't lie — news from the crowd that had swarmed around Hans would definitely leak out — but she couldn't tell her family the full truth either. "No? I mean, I don't know? That is, if he was there, which I _guess_ he could've been…" Anna let out a forced laugh. "I kind of went down to the castle kennels after they cut the cake, so I missed a lot of the later stuff."

That part was true at least.

The rest of the table stared at her, and then Eugene burst out in a force of stifled giggling.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel said.

"I'm sorry!" he said between snorts. "It's just so _you_."

Aunt Primrose smiled as she shook her head while Uncle Thomas seemed perplexed at the range of emotions on display around him.

Just like that, disaster was averted and the dinner's conversation migrated to much safer topics. A couple times during dessert, Anna thought she caught Rapunzel sneaking furtive, disappointed glances in her direction. She hoped it was just her paranoia kicking in again. Her aunt and uncle didn't seem to be noticing anything.

As soon as Anna had scooped the last spoonful of her lemon soufflé into her mouth, she stood up from the table.

"I, umm… it's getting rather late and I'm really tired from the journey," she said lamely.

Anna excused herself from the dining room and headed towards her room. She made it as far as the south hallway.

"Wait, Anna!" Rapunzel called out.

Anna hesitated for one final second, wondering how successful she'd be if she kept walking and claiming deafness later, and then turned.

Her cousin was standing alone in the purple-carpeted hallway. She bit her lip sheepishly as she kept her hands clasped behind her. "We…" she continued. "We need to talk."

Anna's stomach dropped.

Rapunzel knew.

Someone must have told her cousin about Hans after all, or she had picked up on Anna's terrible answers at dinner, or Anna's guilt was just that obvious, blazing right there across her face, or—

Rapunzel moved her hands out from behind her back, revealing a letter clutched between them. Anna squinted for a moment and then inhaled sharply. She recognized the blue, narrowly-looping handwriting on the front.

It was from Elsa.


	18. Act Two: Part Eight

Anna stared at the letter. "You went through my things?" she asked in disbelief.

"What?" Rapunzel said. She glanced at the letter, then back at Anna. "No, this one's mine. My letter that Elsa sent after you didn't respond to yours."

Anna huffed. "Just great. This is so her. Just because I don't write back immediately—"

"She said it's been almost two months."

"Why did she even write to you?" Anna countered. "You have nothing to do with us!"

Rapunzel frowned. "She wrote to me because she cares about you. She's _worried_ about you."

"Ha. Tell me something new."

But even as Anna muttered mental curses, a small sliver of her was grateful. Dealing with family drama was annoying but manageable, much easier than having to explain what'd happened at the wedding between her and Hans. Based on the way her heart had almost stopped just now, Anna needed come up with a good excuse for that before the word ultimately leaked out.

"Anna…" Rapunzel said. Her cousin took a step forward, her hands outstretched, but Anna stepped back instead. Anna sniffed dismissively as she crossed her arms, turning her head to stare at the wall. Rapunzel continued, "I know it doesn't seem fair… that it's probably _not_ fair, but I don't think you understand just how precious family really is."

"Easy for you to say," Anna said, scoffing. "You didn't have to grow up with yours."

Anna froze.

Her hands flew up to her mouth. "Oh my God, Rapunzel. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that."

Despite Anna's words, Rapunzel looked more pensive than angry. She briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. "That's exactly why I'm saying it though," her cousin said. "The longer you put this off, the harder it's going to be to mend things. And you're going to have to do it sooner or later… that is, unless you're planning on staying in Corona forever."

Anna frowned. "You know what would make it easier to mend? If she apologized."

"She _did_ apologize."

Anna thought back to the 'apologies' Elsa had written in her own letter.

"Did Elsa say anything about my reinstatement on the consulate here?" Anna asked. "Or was it just more fancy worded stuff about shipping me back up north?"

"Well…"

Anna groaned. Just typical.

"If she's really dying for a response," Anna said, "you can write her one. Tell her that you actually have to _be_ sorry if you want the other person to give a flying flip!"

"Anna…"

"And that means give and take! You know, compromise! Not… repeating herself over and over until she manages to beat the other person into submission just because she's the queen!"

Anna growled in frustration and began stomping away.

"Wait!" Rapunzel cried out. "Anna! There's one other thing!"

Anna stopped and spun around with a glare. Rapunzel twisted the letter in her hands.

"It's just… Elsa also says Kristoff's birthday is coming up soon and it'd be really nice to have you home for that at least?"

Rapunzel smiled awkwardly.

Anna blinked and then groaned, burying her face in her hands.

Right. Kristoff.

'Soon' was a bit of a stretch. His birthday was still at least a month out, but then again… considering the week-long voyage it took to get home…

Of course, there wasn't any technical reason that Anna couldn't ask Kristoff to come to Corona instead. But it _did_ feel incredibly unfair. Kristoff had made four trips out so far to see her. To make him do it again for his birthday and separate him from Sven…

Great.

She was putting herself in second place to a reindeer again.

The other choice was for both of them to stay exactly where they were. Kristoff could celebrate his birthday in Arendelle without her. He'd certainly be happy enough with Elsa, Sven, and Olaf for company, not to mention his giant, extended family of trolls.

But Anna's heart twisted in guilt just _considering_ that.

Is that really who she wanted to be? A person who flung herself at strangers — at enemies — in a foreign ballroom and then ditched out on her longterm boyfriend's birthday just because of a petty, sisterly spat?

Somewhere along the line, she'd gotten rather terrible.

"Anna?" Rapunzel whispered.

"Not right now, okay? Just not…"

Rapunzel frowned. She stood silently for a moment before holding out the letter. "You can read it if you want?"

Anna hesitated, staring at the blue ink on its envelope. Then she grabbed it, the parchment crinkling in her tight grip, and resumed the trudge up to her rooms.

* * *

An official royal welcome party awaited her on the dock.

Anna's fingers dug in hard against the siding of the ship. If she could see them from the ship's current spot in the fjord, that meant they could see her. With them waiting for her, it'd be rude to retreat below deck or cross to the other side and just stare at the unpopulated forest instead. That meant she was stuck there, standing like some porcelain doll as the dock and the people on it grew closer with agonizing slowness.

Finally, several ropes were thrown out over the side of the ship. Sailors on the dock caught hold of them and helped reel the ship in.

Anna could make out the individual members of the welcoming party now. Elsa stood at the front with Kristoff and Olaf right beside to her. As Anna stared at them, Elsa looked up and their eyes caught.

Four years of ruling had only strengthened her sister's icy gaze, but Anna managed to hold it, ignoring the urge to squirm and run. She only looked away when the captain yelled out that it was safe to disembark.

Anna focused on making her way down the gangplank slowly and cautiously. She had an 'image' now that she had to uphold if she wanted Elsa to listen to anything she said this trip. Only heaven knew how Elsa'd react if Anna slipped and fell before she'd taken even a single step on Arendelle soil.

Unfortunately, her calm air was ruined by Kristoff as he ran up the gangplank and swept her into his arms.

"Hey, Babe," he said, squeezing her tight. "Missed you."

Anna was stuck, her arms pinned and her mind too off-guard to return the hug. "Yeah…" she finally managed. "Same."

"Anna!" Olaf called. He was running towards her as well, but his short legs couldn't carry him as far and fast as Kristoff's had.

"Only one person on my gangplank at a time!" the captain barked behind her. Olaf froze, his snowman foot hovering over the bottom of the plank. Anna twisted her head to see him jab a finger towards Elsa. "All of you fall off and _she'll_ be the one to have my head!"

Kristoff loosened his hold and stepped back, looking sheepish. "Whoops, sorry." He gestured towards the dock with a graceful swoosh. "After you."

Anna smiled and continued her descent, albeit with a little less swagger. Olaf greeted her at the bottom.

"Anna!" he said with just as much enthusiasm as he had the first time.

Anna squatted down to his level and gently hugged him as he threw his stick arms around her. As she stood back up, she clutched her hands tightly in front of her.

"Elsa."

Her older sister took a deep breath. "Anna."

Neither of them seemed willing to make the first move. They kept their heads level and their hands to themselves. No hugs. Not even a handshake.

"I'm only here for Kristoff's birthday," Anna said. "Then I'm going back to Corona."

Elsa opened her mouth like she was about to argue and then paused. "Suit yourself," she finally said. Then she spun on her heel and strode off towards the castle.

The rest of her retinue blinked for a moment, looking confusedly between Anna and Elsa, before mumbling a series of quick "welcome home, your highness"s and rushing after their queen.

Anna stared blankly after them. Moments later, Kristoff came to stand by her side.

"You know," he said. "She's only—"

"Ah ah," Anna quickly warned. "Don't you get started too."

"What? I'm just saying family's really important and—"

Anna rubbed the bridge of her nose as Kristoff dove into a lecture almost identical to Rapunzel's.

It was going to be a long two weeks.

* * *

If their greeting at the dock had been awkward, dinner that night ended up being four times worse. Maybe five times worse. Or ten.

The point was, it was excruciating.

Kristoff and Olaf did there best to charge of the actual conversation while Anna and Elsa responded for the most part with occasional, single syllable answers. And then, about halfway through, Olaf somehow managed to uncover Anna's visit to Wallonia.

Everyone's soup froze.

"You travelled to one of _his_ kingdoms?" Elsa demanded. Servants took away the ruined food and rushed to replace it with something less susceptible to her powers.

"It was only the next kingdom over," Anna said with a dismissive shrug. Mentally, she cursed both Olaf for asking if she'd done anything special after the New Year and herself for instantly defaulting to the truth.

"The distance isn't exactly what I'm concerned about."

"Well, I went there and I came back and I'm still safe," Anna said. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Elsa glowered as the servants placed the next dish in front of them. "Nothing…" she finally muttered.

The table lapsed back into silence. Olaf, perhaps sensing his inadvertent screw-up, tried to steer the conversation into a completely different direction, but Anna and Elsa had stopped responding to everything. It was just him and Kristoff, filling up the void.

When dessert was brought out, Elsa pushed back her chair and stood. "Thank you," she told the servant, "but I'll skip this one." Anna watched as her older sister managed to practically glide her way out of the the room.

"I'll… make sure she's okay," Olaf said.

The small snowman slipped out of his seat and rushed after her, managing to catch up just as the door closed behind the both of the them.

"Anna…" Kristoff started.

"I'm not apologizing until she apologizes!" Anna snapped.

Kristoff flinched. "Alright, alright… Sorry, I brought it up."

Anna swallowed painfully, resisting the urge to bury her head against the table. Every time she opened her mouth, something worse seemed to come out. She turned her attention to the dessert instead.

Chocolate custard.

After a couple delicious bites, Anna realized with guilt that it'd most likely been picked specifically for her. Everyone in Arendelle knew how much she loved chocolate.

Perhaps Elsa herself had picked it…

Anna took another, more vicious bite, the metal of the spoon clanging against the back of her teeth.

Well, if watching Anna eat dessert had been that important to Elsa, then it was her sister's own fault for leaving when she had. And if Elsa was hoping to make Anna feel guilty about her decision to stay in Corona or her trip to Wallonia, then she'd have to start doing a lot better because Anna was simply going to keep eating.

And she was going to _enjoy_ it.

Despite her resolution, a headache started to pound against her left temple. It grew worse and worse as the minutes passed. After dinner, Anna tried to excuse herself for the night.

"No problem," Kristoff said. "I know how brutal that journey is from Corona to here. One last welcome back hug before you head up?"

Anna wanted to say no. Her head felt like it was splitting, and all she wanted to do was close her eyes and transfer all her worries to her pillow. But Kristoff was looking at her with such a heart-breaking open smile. He'd opened his arms and was just standing there, waiting for her.

He was impossible to refuse.

"Alright," she said, letting him wrap his arms around her.

It actually soothed her for a moment, and then his hands began to slip down towards her waist. Anna suddenly felt the ghost of another pair of hands, slimmer and lighter… with just the faintest bit of pressure from where he'd guided her around the ballroom…

Anna flinched.

"You okay?" Kristoff asked.

"Yeah," Anna said automatically. "Yeah, I'm okay." She pulled herself from his grasp. "Just tired. That's all."

"Right…" He frowned. "Just remember, Anna. If you ever need to talk. I'm here. We're all here."

It was getting ridiculous now, how much he sounded like the Sami-clone of her cousin. A part of Anna bristled at the unfairness of it all: why did her friends have to be so _nice_? It'd be so much easier to sit and stew in her own miserableness if they'd all been terrible and unfeeling instead.

"Yeah," Anna finally managed. "I know. Thanks."

* * *

One of the good things about returning for Kristoff's birthday was that it gave Anna an excuse to spend as much time away from the castle as possible. With her or Elsa refusing to budge, being in the castle felt awkward on the best days and was downright depressing on the worst. So, as the days continued to warm, she'd often grab Kristoff and Sven and Olaf and spend entire days up in the mountains sledding… skiing… really doing whatever. More than once, Kristoff had to yank Anna and Olaf back from several of the more treacherous slopes.

The sun had already set behind the mountains on the far side of the fjord when they returned to the castle one day. Elsa was waiting for them in the front hall of the palace, pacing restlessly. She stopped as they entered.

"About time," she breathed. Her eyes flicked between the small party before resting on Anna. "I need to speak to you. Preferably alone."

"Not this _again_," Anna groaned. They'd run across each a few brief times in the halls; Elsa had tried to convince her to stay each and every time. "Look, Elsa…"

"It's about the wedding you went to," Elsa said.

Anna froze.

Shoot.

The others gazed at her inquisitively; Anna tried to ignore them. She'd used her free time during the voyage from Corona to Arendelle to come up with some rock solid excuses, well, _a_ rock solid excuse for dancing with Hans which wasn't even an excuse since it was mostly the truth, but that didn't mean she wanted Kristoff finding out about it through however Elsa was about to phrase things.

Not like there was really _anything_ to find out. It wasn't like Anna had cheated on him.

She hadn't.

"Your study?" Anna offered.

Elsa's mouth was set in a tight line, but she nodded. Anna left the others despite their small protests, promising she'd let them know what was going on as soon as she finished discussing it with Elsa. She followed silently behind her sister, reviewing her planned excuse in her head.

The most important thing Anna would have to get across to Elsa was that she'd done nothing wrong. The wedding had been nothing like Elsa's coronation. Hans wasn't some devilish prince who had swept her off her feet but, instead, a valuable source of mysterious information. Anna had merely used the dance to search for answers. Yes. That was it.

She was Anna.

Master Spy.

She'd had no other motivations. Whatsoever.

_Liar_, a tiny voice whispered.

They reached the study, and Anna closed the door behind them. She took a deep breath, ready to launch into her explanation—

"Really, Anna," Elsa said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Are you trying to give me an early heart attack? What were you _thinking_?"

"It was— I was only trying to get information out of him," she blurted out, her mouth bypassing the careful wording that her head had prepared. "And it was only one dance—"

"You _danced _with him?!"

Anna flinched. Whoops. Apparently Elsa hadn't heard about that part yet.

"Look," Anna said, mentally repeating to herself that she'd done nothing wrong. She'd done nothing wrong. "It wasn't like I went there trying to find him. He just happened to be at the wedding, and what was I supposed to? Run and hide in a corner? Scream for help?"

"If that's what it would've taken to keep you away from him, then _yes_!"

"Excuse me?" Anna said, eyes widening.

Elsa groaned. "He _plays_ people, Anna. What makes you think you could ever get a speck of information out of him that he didn't want you to have?"

Anna fidgeted, frowning. "You don't have to be _that_ harsh about it…"

"Yes," Elsa said. "Yes, I do because you don't seem to—" She let out a tense sigh. "I know you went and saw him on the ship."

It took Anna a moment to realize what the hell Elsa was talking about. It'd been years since they'd found Hans drifting in the open sea…

"Really? You're bringing that up now?" Anna said with a scoff of disbelief. "That doesn't even have anything to do with— He was half-dead when we found him. I was just making sure you didn't finish up the job."

"Oh," Elsa said, crossing her arms. "So now _I'm_ the threat?"

Anna winced. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

Elsa took a deep breath. "I specifically told you not to go near him," she said, ignoring Anna's apology, "and you disobeyed me."

"And I already specifically told you, you're not my parent."

"Yes," Elsa said. She ran her fingers through her hair. "But I'm your older sister, so it's still my responsibility to protect you, and I don't know how to get _through_ to you that he's dangerous!"

"If he's that dangerous, how did I survive a full week with him out in that blizzard?"

"You survived because he needed you," Elsa said.

A chill crept along the back of Anna's spine, Elsa's words reflecting all her old doubts and insecurities. Anna had worries about the same thing once upon a time… still worried about it, occasionally. If Anna kept arguing, she'd only be arguing against herself…

But to stop arguing would mean she'd lose.

"We don't know _what_ he wants now," Elsa continued. "Anything could happen." She clasped Anna's hands between her own. "I'm… I'm just scared, Anna. Okay? I don't want to lose you to him."

Anna swallowed and forced herself to look up from their joined hands into Elsa's eyes.

It hurt. When it came right down to it, Anna _didn't_ want to argue like this. All she wanted was to be able to run far off into the horizon, make her own decisions, figure her life out by herself… Elsa meant well, but she only had half the pieces, only had half the story.

Anna pulled her hands from Elsa's. "You're not going to lose me," she said firmly. Then she threaded her fingers together and tilted her chin up. "Is there anything _else_ you want to talk about?"

Elsa frowned. "Anna…" She sighed and then turned away, trailing a hand over the pine finish of her desk. "No… Do whatever you want."

Anna almost caved at her sister's heartbroken tone, but she caught herself at the last second. This was the way Elsa played the game, and until she was willing to admit that Corona was perfectly safe, Anna had to play it right back. She nodded silently and took her leave. When the door closed behind her, she leaned her back against it and took a deep, shuddering breath.

As nice as it'd be to stay there a moment to clear her thoughts, Anna had to get moving and find the others. If Elsa had found out about her meeting with Hans, it'd only be a matter of time before the news spread to the rest of the castle.

Anna just hoped Kristoff would react to her junior spy attempts better than Elsa had.

* * *

"You don't _have_ to go back, you know," Kristoff said.

"Of course I do."

Anna went around her bedroom, checking for any last essentials that she'd forgotten to pack. She got on the floor, stuck a hand under her bed, and felt blindly until her fingers gripped around her favorite tortoise shell comb. Kristoff extended a hand and helped pull her back to her feet, but once she was up he didn't let go.

"Stay here," he told her.

"Kristoff… you know why I can't."

She tugged her arm free and went to drop the comb in her smallest traveling bag.

"Why you can't?" he asked. "Or why you won't?"

Anna froze. "Please, Kristoff," she begged. "Not you too…"

"Look. Anna, I know you love this, and the last thing I want to do is stop you," he said. "And I'm fine with our visits. I _love_ our visits. This birthday party… it was the best birthday party I've probably ever had. But our future has to eventually start being something more than just visits."

_Why not?_

Anna bit back the selfish response. After her talk with Elsa, she had told Kristoff all about the wedding and running into Hans, including the part about him asking her to dance. Kristoff had listened without interruption and had nodded when she'd finished.

"You did your best," he'd told her.

And that'd been the end of it, because Kristoff was just that kind of a person. He was good. Just so… so good.

Anna was starting to wonder if she actually deserved a person that good.

"Elsa—" Kristoff started, ignoring the way Anna scowled back at him, "—she has a point about your job being kind of flexible. I know it's not what you want to hear, but you could easily get a position in the consulate of another kingdom. Like Nordheim. They're right next door… or near enough. It's only two days by boat. Five if I go over the mountains with Sven."

Anna shook her head with an exasperated sigh. "I wouldn't need you to go over the mountains."

"No," Kristoff admitted. "But I'd want to." He flashed her a smile which she tried to, shakily, return. "Just… think about it, okay?"

Ann knew she was being the petulant one. If she worked in a nearby kingdom, it'd be better for everyone. It'd probably even be better for her. And she'd get just as much useful work done there as she did in Corona… probably more, given that she wasn't an official member of that consulate anymore.

Spoiled.

That's what she was. A spoiled little princess who kept running off between kingdoms because she didn't get her way.

Then again… if she was spoiled, what did that make Elsa?

"Okay," Anna finally told him. "I'll think about. Really. I promise."

She hugged Kristoff and then fastened the clasps of her traveling bag. Her ship back to Corona wasn't due to leave for another several hours, but the more things she had ready and on board ahead of time, the less excuses Elsa had to keep her from leaving with it. Kristoff offered to carry her bag to the docks for her and she let him.

As they walked through the town, Elsa was nowhere in sight. The two sisters had made a round of solemn goodbyes at dinner the last night… Anna didn't know if those had been their final goodbyes or if Elsa was planning on showing up later that day. She pushed aside the clenching feeling in her gut.

They arrived at the ship and Kristoff passed her travel bag to one of the porters. Anna reached out clutched Kristoff's hands.

"Promise you'll keep writing?" she asked.

He gave her a light kiss. "Each and every—"

Chaotic squawks pierced the air as a loud, clattering noise echoed from the town square. Anna frowned. Seconds later, palace soldier on horseback emerged from the crowd and galloped along the docks.

"Stop!" he called out. "Stop the ship!"

A dark pit of rage simmered in Anna's stomach. Of all the ridiculous things for Elsa to pull… Anna glared at the guard as he pulled to a stop in front of them.

"Where's the captain?" the guard said as he dismounted.

"Here," a gruff voice responded, descending the gangplank. "What is it?"

"Urgent message from the palace." The guard passed a small scroll to the captain.

The captain unrolled it, and his eyes instantly widened. He muttered low beneath his breath while his hand made the sign of the cross.

Anna ran out of patience. "Look, if Elsa has banned you from leaving port because of me, don't listen to her. She's not allowed to—"

"It's not that," the captain said. "Though I wish it was. Here."

He passed Anna the scroll with trembling hands. Anna was almost afraid to take it, at a loss to what else it could be, but managed to reach out all the same. She was conscious of Kristoff leaning over her shoulder as she opened it to its full, short length. The message read:

_Plague outbreak in Corona. Borders closed. All trade and travel vessels, remain where ported._


	19. Act Two: Part Nine

The month passed with nerve-wrecking slowness.

Travel between the two kingdoms continued to be banned, and Anna remained stuck in Arendelle, just another helpless spectator to the ever-growing disaster. Elsa, to her credit, didn't bring up the failed voyage or how Anna had managed to stay safe by being in Arendelle at the time. She also didn't bring up the topic of Anna's eventual return — because the second the plague cleared up, Anna was getting on the first ship she could find — but Anna didn't know if her sister's silence stemmed from respect for the situation or smug knowledge that Anna finally wasn't going anywhere in the near future.

Messages came through about once every two weeks, slipping through the few approved holes in the border closures that they had. Through those, Anna learned that — although several people she knew were in critical condition — none of them had actually gone as far as _dying_ yet.

Lucky her.

At the five week mark, Anna finally accepted a temporary position with the small Nordheim delegation that was stationed within the city. She was mostly only there to help grease wheels and provide local insight, but it was something. Listening to the Nordheim ambassador go on and on about his bee farm back home was still better than worrying every single minute of every single day about the chaos happening several hundred miles to the south.

A part of Anna hated herself for it. Taking the job meant that she'd finally sold herself out. That Elsa had won.

And then she hated herself immediately for thinking such things.

In a normal situation, yes, Anna could be allowed to hate herself, but this _wasn't_ a normal situation. She had friends who were fighting for their lives, and here she was complaining about drinking wine and having to listen to bee farm lectures. Until the plague cleared, everyone just had to do whatever they had to do to keep things working and then maybe… just maybe, clearer skies would be up ahead.

The next message Arendelle received seemed to confirm that. New cases were dropping, and while there'd been a number of deaths, the royal family remained safe and healthy. It took everything in Anna's power to not rush down to the docks and try and book passage right then and there.

Then another message arrived.

Corona's luck had dipped again.

The rains stopped and didn't pick up again. Reports flew in off crops withering all across the kingdom, the dirt in their fields cracking apart as they gasped for even the tiniest drop of moisture. Anna remembered several conversations she'd had with Corona's Minister of Agriculture and the constant concerns he'd had for their recent production rates. Her cousin's kingdom had already dipped low into their food reserves after the blizzard, and they hadn't been able to replenish them in the few years since.

"Don't even think about it," Elsa told her when the travel bans from the plague finally lifted. "You'd just be another mouth to feed."

Anna had argued back but ultimately lost because Elsa _did_ have a point this time. It was the height of summer and Corona was officially out of food. Reports came of riots in the countryside, where farmers without food had begun to fight the ones who had individually stockpiled it.

She didn't want to imagine what reports there'd be come winter.

Elsa wrote to their aunt and uncle, assuming them that Arendelle would lend whatever aid she could.

Anna wrote as well, mostly to Rapunzel and mostly about the stone that she and Hans had discovered in the cave: was it still there? Was it acting strangely or shining differently or anything?

She wasn't sure whether Rapunzel's response was comforting or not.

Apparently the stone was fine. It was still in its vault and still under guard and still shining the exact same way it'd been shining for the last three years. There was nothing to worry about on that end.

Nothing rational, anyways.

Then the ships from Corona — and the letters they carried with them — simply stopped.

Anna immediately assumed the worst, dissolving into a bundle of nerves that fluctuated wildly between cheerful overcompensation and rambling depression.

"I should've gone anyway," she told Kristoff one day. "Despite Elsa." They were huddled together on a couch in the palace library. "I should've ignored all her stupid travel bans and feeding mouth talks and gone to Corona anyway."

"Yes, and what difference would that have made?" Kristoff asked. "You couldn't have done anything to stop that plague. You couldn't have done anything to prevent this drought."

Anna frowned, wrenched with guilt all the same.

"I could've tried," she mumbled.

Meanwhile, Elsa drew further into herself and her rising wave of queenly duties. She began to skip most meals, spending most of her time in various meetings and the rest cloistered alone in her official study. Several mornings, Anna poked her head into her sister's bedroom with a fresh tray of breakfast only to find the room empty and the bed completely untouched from the night before.

Despite the hopeful words everyone kept telling each other, they were all slowly losing themselves.

Then — one month after Corona's messages had initially stopped — a new one arrived: an official announcement that the kingdom had decided to save themselves by abandoning their sovereignty and joining the six kingdoms already under Hans' rule.

* * *

Anna fiddled with the shoulder straps of her dress, trying to seem confident and composed while simultaneously taking in the faces of every single person in the packed council room. She stood rigidly against one of its walls along with a number of other foreign lords and dignitaries.

Kristoff glanced sideways at her. "You look fine," he whispered, before pulling her fidgeting hand down to their sides, keeping it intertwined with his.

She nodded silently.

All of the monarchs from the surrounding Northern kingdoms were sitting at the table in the center of the council room. Elsa sat at its head, the banners of Arendelle unfurled wide behind her.

"You all know why we're here," she told the room in a calm, measured tone. "Hans of the Southern Isles has conquered — yes, _conquered_ — seven kingdoms through a combination of deceit, unknown trickery, and murder."

A flurry of whispers echoed around the room; Elsa waved a hand and silenced them.

"It's not diplomatic to say, I know, but at a certain point our constant need to soften reality with words becomes a great weakness," she continued. "We have all noticed the _'coincidences'_ that have followed this man around like a second shadow. I, for one, hardly believe that it was only coincidence that killed both Weideland's crown princess and its reigning king just months after he married into their family. Nor do I believe in any coincidences that simply handed him the keys to six separate kingdoms soon after."

"Coincidence isn't the issue here," the king of Vestmar suddenly interrupted. "It's proof. He stole these kingdoms, yes, but the people living in them don't seem to be any worse for the wear. Quite the contrary. It'll be hard to level any charges against him while he still has a loyal following."

"If we wait for proof, it will be too late to do _anything_," Elsa said. "Use your eyes. In just two years, he's conquered nearly half the Southern lands. It's only a matter of time until he sets his sight northwards. We have two choices: wait for that inevitability… or take action while there's still time."

Anna swallowed in dread as the table dissolved into hushed murmurs, monarch consulting with neighboring monarch.

There was a soft squeeze around her hand. She glanced right, then up, to see the corner of Kristoff's lips lift in a reassuring half-smile. It didn't do anything to pry open the tight bands currently wrapping themselves around her stomach.

"Queen Elsa is right," one of the older kings announced. "If I had a gold crown for every underhanded plot in history that's never had its culprits dragged kicking and screaming into the light… Well, the point is, we can't just wait here for things to unfold. The people of Romsdal will never be subject to the people of Weideland."

"Neither will the people of Nordheim!"

Around the table, there were similar vows of independence.

"This is all good talk to be sure," the queen of Fjordane said. "But what, Queen Elsa, do you propose that we do? While the Kingdom of Fjordane is proud, we also know our limits, particularly when it comes to size and strength of arms. I would hate to start shedding unnecessary blood without something to actively rally behind."

"There's no need for any blood to be shed," Elsa told them. She breathed deeply as she surveyed the other monarchs. "I propose a reforged Northern alliance. We will unite and cut off all trade with any kingdom that has fallen beneath Hans' rule."

The room erupted in furious whispering from lords and ministers alike; an embargo against the south wouldn't cost direct lives but it would devastate trade, destroying the livelihood of hundreds… no, thousands of sailors and merchants and artisans and even farmers…

The king of Vestmar cleared his throat.

"I know we don't want to go as far war," he said. "But an embargo of that magnitude is also… rather… direct."

"That's the point," Elsa said. "Hans has gotten as far as he has because he's been able to pick us off one by one. I won't lie… there _will_ be sacrifices involved. For all of us. But our combined unity is the best defense — and the best offense — that we have against him."

There was more hushed murmuring, the kings and queens that had sat equally-spaced around the table leaning to their lefts and rights as they split into smaller subgroups. Thousand-year-old alliances and grudges were bubbling to the surfaces.

The queen of Fjordane cleared her throat.

"Perhaps," she said, looking around at the people lining the walls of the crowded room. "We could continue this discussion in private?"

Several seconds of silence rippled through air before it was shattered by an indignant uproar. Men and women, natural born lords and elected officials alike pressed forward, some banging their fists on the table while others merely shouted about how such a grave decision couldn't _possibly_ be made without their wise council.

Despite the noise, the other monarchs quickly stood behind Fjordane's queen. Elsa signaled to several of the palace guardsmen and together they herded anyone not wearing a crown — including Anna and Kristoff — from the council room.

Anna looked back one last time. Elsa was back to sitting at the head of the table, her hands interlaced and locked in front of her. She was looking in Anna's direction, but her focus seemed to be on a point somewhere behind Anna… or in front of her…

Someone jostled Anna as they both crowded their way through the entrance way, and Elsa disappeared from view. The doors were pulled shut a second later.

Anna stared at them, frowning, until Kristoff grabbed her hand and pulled her away. They hung out with the rest of the ticked-off nobles for another half hour until they both agreed that their time was probably better spent doing _literally_ anything else.

As they made their way to the stables to check on Sven, Anna tried not to think about just how little the fate of her own country rested in her hands.

* * *

"Can we open our eyes yet?" Anna asked.

"Noooooo!" Olaf shouted back.

Anna shook her head with a sigh but kept the smile on her face. She waited patiently with Kristoff beside her as the squat snowman put his finishing touches on whatever he'd planned for both her and the children that'd gathered in the large, open field north of town.

In the end, the northern monarchs had decided to pass the embargo against Hans' kingdoms. Anna understood Elsa's decision, and supported it wholeheartedly like the majority of the kingdom, but just because there was support, didn't mean there weren't any challenges. Certain things were harder to get in the north: temperate fruits and grains, raw lines, gears and other complicated little bits for clocks and stuff…

Okay, so clock parts probably weren't that important in the grand scheme of things, but still. The point was, Arendelle — all the northern countries — had taken a hit on some pretty big essentials.

Because of that, Anna had joined forces with Olaf to become Arendelle's Co-Chief Officers of Morale. It was a title and position that basically meant they did whatever fun, free stuff they could think of with the town children and whoever else felt like joining them.

"And ready!" Olaf finally said. "NowpresentingthefirstannualSnow-Babyolympics!"

Anna opened her eyes. So did the mob of kids around her, crooning with perfectly placed oohs and aahs.

The field was entirely covered with the army of Snow-Babies that Elsa had accidentally created back on Anna's 19th birthday. They were split into five groups, each group wearing different colored bandanas as they hopped and jumped and ran around a miniature stadium that Olaf had made out of numerous logs and stones. A sign reading "1st Annual Snow-Baby Olympics" had been hung between Sven's antlers.

"I thought we weren't supposed to use any cloth in this stuff," Kristoff whispered beneath the kids' cheers.

Anna looked at the bandanas, then back to Olaf as he began passing out similarly colored flags to the crowd. "I'm sure we can turn a blind eye just this once," Anna told him. She smiled as Olaf gave her a flag as well. "Woo! Go Team Red!"

It didn't take much for her to convince Kristoff to grab his own blue flag. Everyone separated into their new cheering areas, and the games began.

The running events were up first, the tiny Snow-Babies lining up behind an equally tiny line of pebbles.

A short girl at the back of the red team started crying that she couldn't see anything, so Anna lifted her up onto her shoulders. Seconds later she was cheering louder than anyone. Anna winced, the girl's high-pitched shrieks piercing her eardrums, and then caught Kristoff's eyes from where he stood across the field. He nodded at the girl on her shoulder and lifted his thumb.

She lifted her thumb back… and then wobbled. The girl shrieked, and Anna only just managed to steady herself before they both went tumbling to the ground. Her legs locked as she stared straight forward, her face flushing in embarrassment.

That was Anna.

So good with kids that she almost murdered them.

That had been _one_ good thing about the embargo, Anna supposed. She'd never been immune to talk and whenever any of the townswomen saw her and Kristoff hanging out with the kids… well, let's just say Anna was glad that, between the embargo and the rationing and everything else, any talk of either marriage or expensive marriage ceremonies had been put on hold.

Not that that she didn't _want_ those things, she just… wasn't ready for them yet.

Of course, it'd been five years since Anna had realized how immature and unready she'd been, and she didn't feel like she'd made that much progress in the grand adult scheme of things. What if there was no magic moment that would make her ready? What if she kept waiting and waiting for some non-existent sign and one day she looked back and—?

The field erupted in cheers.

One of red Snow-Babies had crossed the finish line just breaths ahead of the green one. The yellow one came in third, with the blue and brown ones trailing after. Anna grinned at Kristoff and relished the way he shrugged back in defeat.

Next came the hurdling events, then the weight lifting ones. The sight of the Snow-Babies grunting with exertion as they lifted twigs with small stones tied to each end made Anna snort in laughter and she suddenly wished Rapunzel was there to capture the moment on canvas.

And then she sobered.

Rapunzel…

It'd been two months since the embargo and they hadn't gotten any messages from Corona or its royal family yet.

Well… Anna had technically gotten one letter, Rapunzel supposedly writing that she was fine and that there was nothing for Anna or her sister to worry about.

It'd been been way too generic.

Bland even, with nothing about Hans' conquest or the famine that had ultimately pushed her kingdom into his arms. Nothing about the fact that she was no longer a princess.

Nothing about the fact that her family was no longer anything.

One of the kids poked at Anna's legs, and Anna forced herself to smile. After all, she was a Co-Chief Officer of Morale.

It was her duty to smile.

The weight-lifting ended with the yellow team victorious, and then the stadium was cleared to make room for the next event: creative dancing. Anna somehow doubted that'd been an actual event in ancient Greece, but it was a certainly entertaining one. As Kristoff played accompaniment on his lute, the little girl that Anna had been holding slipped off her shoulders and ran forward with a couple of the other children. Before long the human spectators and the snowmen competitors had completely merged, Olaf's grand olympics forgotten in favor of an impromptu dance party.

Anna hung back, content to silently supervise until Kristoff made his way over. She lifted an eyebrow at the way his hands continued to pluck their way over the strings.

"Don't tell me _you're_ going to ask me to dance?"

"Me? No, gotta keep playing," he replied. "But Sven on the other hand…"

Anna let out a shriek as the reindeer shoved against her back, knocking her forward into the herd of children. One of the blue team girls grabbed her hands, and just like that she was pulled into the dance.

There was an incredibly dizzying silliness to it all. Anna laughed as she quickly assumed the man's role, spinning the girl around like she'd always loved doing when she was younger. Like she still loved, to be honest.

Kristoff finished one song and was in the middle of the next when a white snowflake fell onto Anna's wrist.

Then another.

And another…

Anna stopped dancing and looked up. Clouds had gathered above them, snow drifting gently down from their murky centers. She frowned. It was still September, which meant…

Oh no.

Anna turned her head towards the town. The clouds were thicker there, the snow already coating the ground in a pure layer of white. Kristoff stopped playing. A hush quickly fell over the field, punctuated only by tiny squeaks from the Snow-Babies who were too little to sense anything beyond the immediate joy of unexpected snow.

"Watch the kids," she told Kristoff. "Make sure they get back to the town okay."

Anna ran to Sven and tried to untangle the Olympics sign as carefully and quickly as she could from his antlers. She wished she could just _rip_ it off and get moving already, but she also knew how much time and effort Olaf had put into this day.

"Anna…" Kristoff said.

Her fingers managed to untie the last knot, and she climbed up onto Sven's back. "I'll meet you at the castle."

Kristoff took a deep breath and then nodded. "Stay safe."

Anna nodded back, and then tapped Sven lightly against the neck. They took off down the hill, Anna praying that she could stop whatever this was before it got any worse.

* * *

"Elsa!"

With a couple helpful points from the palace staff, Anna found her sister in the throne room, pacing across the wooden diamond in its center as the floor and walls coated themselves with sheet after sheet of ice. Elsa briefly looked up as Anna entered, then turned her head back down and continued to pace.

Anna hesitated at the door before closing it behind her and stepping forward. Her feet nearly slipped on the frictionless surface. She steadied herself and then continued forward again, taking a painfully slow time to finally reach her sister.

"Elsa, what—?"

"Read," Elsa snapped, shoving an ice-covered scroll into Anna's chest.

Anna winced at the cold against her bare hands but couldn't do anymore than that. Her sister's magic had turned into a cylindrical ice block and there was no way to unscroll it anymore. Anna awkwardly cleared her throat.

Elsa blinked and then sighed. "Sorry. It's… it's Vestmar."

Anna frowned in confusion.

"They defected," Elsa continued. "To Hans."

"What?!" Anna gasped. "But they promised they wouldn't—!"

"Right. Go and tell that to them." Elsa snatched the scroll back from Anna. The ice that'd been coating it vanished and she unfurled it. "The Kingdom of Vestmar regrets to inform me that due to the small nature of their kingdom, they don't have enough stockpiled to make it through this upcoming winter. Therefore they see that they have no choice but to reforge the old, traditional links of trade that have long been the foundation of their people's stability."

Elsa snarled and hurled the scroll away.

"Why couldn't they have just asked us for help first?!" she demanded. "That was the whole point of this! Not to—" Elsa sunk to the floor. "Now we're even weaker than before… he planned this. He somehow planned _all_ of this."

Anna bit her lip.

Despite Elsa's rage, Arendelle itself was on rations now and wouldn't have been able to support Vestmar even if they _had_ asked… but Anna knew that wasn't the right thing to say at the moment.

Anna lowered herself onto the floor, next to Elsa. "But we're not weaker. We're strong. Strong in a way that he'll never be able to understand."

"And what way is that?"

Bluff called.

"In… in… determination?"

Elsa laughed and the broken sound sent chills up the base of Anna's spine. "If that was true, none of this would've ever happened," she said. "This… this…"

She screamed and slammed her fists against the floor, jagged spirals of ice shooting outwards.

Anna stifled a yelp of surprise; she stared at her sister, heart racing. She didn't know what to say to help… what to do… Anna glanced up at the ceiling, picturing the sky beyond. She knew that the storm clouds were continuing to gather there, that an early blizzard was the last thing they needed with winter soon around the corner.

"Elsa?" Anna asked tentatively.

"What?" Elsa said, her voice breaking across just the single syllable.

Anna swallowed. "Well… It's just…" She knew it was probably a bad idea to directly confront the problem. Last time she'd tried it, she'd gotten a shard of magical ice wedged in her heart. But her only other option was to ignore it, and that was no good either. Besides Elsa had control of her powers now. Things would be okay. "There're kind of these snow clouds above the town again and…"

Elsa's face darkened, and Anna inhaled sharply.

Just great. She'd made things worse.

Again.

Elsa took in a deep breath and then let it out in one continuous, shuddering stream. There was the sound of a small, half-muffled sob as Elsa buried her face in her hands. Anna stared in shock — Elsa didn't do this. Elsa _never_ did this — and then she wrapped her arms around her sister, offering up her shoulder as a pillow.

As Elsa began to cry, the ice gradually melted around them. Unlike the way her normal ice vanished into nothingness though, it stayed in the throne room as water, drenching wood and walls and low-hanging tapestries alike.

Still. It was better than the ice.

"I don't know what to do," Elsa said into Anna's shoulders. "We all promised we wouldn't break and now… It's only a matter of time until he gets to the others. He's going to conquer us. He's going rip through us all like he did the Southern kingdoms and there nothing I can _do_."

Anna's fingers pressed further into her sister's back. She looked past her, at the rest of the throne room. There was a ghost of an old memory there, the room crowded with dancing bodies… Anna, herself, as she was knocked to side, was tripping and falling, only to be rescued by a dream with red hair…

By a nightmare.

The same nightmare who'd later saved her from a pack of wolves. The nightmare who'd fallen in the snow, lost in his own despair until she'd managed to drag them both forward by nothing but sheer willpower. The nightmare who'd leaned in close… who'd left her lips tingling after just the faintest brushes against his…

The sound of a fresh sob yanked her out of the memory.

Right. Elsa.

Elsa was the important one.

Hans was just somebody. A man who'd made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Anna with just a dozen short, cutting words. He was the one behind this all. The one currently making Elsa cry when Elsa never cried.

But even despite that logic, a part of Anna still wanted everything to be a crazy coincidence after all. She wanted to believe that — not that Hans had changed, because she wasn't an idiot and she didn't believe someone like him could change who he was quite on _that_ scale — but she wanted to believe that he at least _respected_ her now? Or something.

She wanted to believe that he thought just enough about her, after all they'd been through, not to do things like…

Anna's arms tightened around her sister.

…well, like this.

Anna pushed against her sister's shoulders, forcing Elsa to look her in the eye. "Listen to me," Anna told her. "We are _not_ going to let him win, okay?"

"But—"

"You said it yourself, didn't you?" Anna took a deep breath. "We have two options: sit and do nothing as he continues grabbing kingdoms… or take steps while we still have time."

Elsa frowned. "But we already stopped all trade with him and he didn't even flinch."

Anna closed her eyes.

She couldn't believe that she was the one about to say this. To suggest it. It went against every single peace-keeping and status quo lesson that'd been drilled into her when she'd still been on the Corona consulate. Even as she opened her mouth, determined to say them, the words got stuck in her throat.

How could they not?

Anna opened her eyes. Elsa was still staring at her.

"Then we take a step further," Anna said.

Elsa blinked back, her brow creasing, before her eyes opened wide. The sudden realization of what Anna was implying seemed to calm her and she sat back, wiping her red-rimmed eyes completely dry.

"You mean war," she finally said.

The word echoed hollow against Anna's chest. Echoed painfully against her heart.

But Anna's heart wasn't what mattered. Not in this. For Elsa's sake… for Arendelle… she had to harden those soft, manipulatable parts of her. She had to start acting and thinking with her head for once, and after all the other things she'd memorized and crammed in there over the years, she no longer had any room for triple-guessing the intentions of a man who'd already made his choices and had already betrayed her family years ago.

"Yes," Anna said.

Elsa stayed silent for a moment before pushing herself back up onto her feet. As she resumed her pacing, she finally noticed the water she'd left on the throne room floor. With two waves of her hands, it refroze and then disappeared entirely. She clasped her hands together as she turned to Anna.

"Do you think the people will approve?"

Anna considered it. When she finally spoke, the words that came out were definitely hers, but they didn't feel quite like _her_ either. "They know Hans tried to kill you. That he tried to kill us. They'll approve."

Elsa paced two more short, silent lengths. "And the other kingdoms?"

"Vestmar's closet ally was Romsdal, and Romsdal was one of the first supporters of the embargo," Anna said. "They'll see the annexation as a personal attack against their kingdom. If you're worried about support from the others, write to them first. They should be able to persuade the rest if they aren't trying to already."

Elsa stopped and stared at Anna. For a second, Anna thought her sister was about to break into tears again but then she recomposed herself. "You," Elsa finally managed. "I can't believe you grew up and I didn't even notice."

Anna blinked.

"Well," Anna said with a shrug and a series of awkward chuckles, the only way she knew how to respond. "Nobody's perfect?"

Elsa grabbed Anna's hands. "Anna, I… I'm so sorry for everything. Everything that I've said… everything I've done. It's just." She took a breath. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Anna swallowed.

There was a slight sting beneath the raw openness of her sister's apology. A nasty voice whispered that Elsa would've never said any of it if they hadn't _both_ been pushed to the edge like this, that it still wasn't a true apology was still stuck in Arendelle like Elsa had always wanted, but at the same time…

"Same," Anna replied.

They stayed in the center of the throne room, the silence pressing in around them. Elsa cleared her throat. She looked towards the front doors that still were still isolating them from the outside world.

"As soon as we walk out of those doors," Elsa said. "That's going to be it. There's going to be no taking this back."

"I know," Anna said.

Elsa was silent.

"We have the power to win though," Anna told her. "Hans… He won't know what hit him."

Elsa turned to Anna. "You really think that?"

"We…" Anna started. Doubt wrapped itself around her lungs and squeezed. "We kind of have to. I think?"

Elsa took a deep breath.

"Okay," she said. "I'm ready." She let go of Anna's hands and strode towards the doors. Anna followed, a silent shadow.

Outside, a crowd had already begun to gather, mostly palace staff but here and there a couple of higher ranking ministers as well. Anna locked eyes with an older man in the back, an admiral from what she could remember. Apparently there was something in her face that he could read, and he inhaled stiffly.

"I need a messenger bird to Romsdal immediately," Elsa said to one of the servants that worked in the dovecote. "Tell their king that due to the forced annexation of Vestmar by Hans of Weideland—" the crowd gasped and murmured, and Anna gripped her hands tightly together until her knuckles turned white "–– the Kingdom of Arendelle is officially at war."

* * *

**A/N: End of Act Two**


	20. Act Three: Part One

Anna watched, hands tightly clasped in front of her, as the palace staff loaded the town's weekly fruit preserves and flour rations onto the distribution cart. It'd become her latest job, helping hold down the fort so to speak, while Elsa busied herself somewhere out along the fjord, strategizing with generals and bolstering defenses.

Five months.

They'd only declared war five months ago.

What'd started out as a great northern war of liberation for the Kingdom of Romsdal had rapidly disintegrated into a struggle for their basic survival. Arendelle was the only one left now—the North's one remaining bastion of strength. And they probably would've fallen with the rest of them—armies ripped apart during the Battle of the Haust Moon—if it hadn't been for her sister's powers.

They were at a stalemate now. The winter snow made it impossible to get an army over the mountains, and Arendelle held complete control over its fjord. A sleepless, snow army now patrolled the shores, and Elsa kept the water itself frozen, blocking Hans' ships at the mouth of the sea. Whenever any sailors tried to advance by walking over the ice-covered surface, they quickly found it melting beneath their feet, only to refreeze above them once they'd fully plunged into its depths.

Anna shivered.

She didn't like to think about death like that. Many of the soldiers had been—were _still_—just following orders.

But then again, that was war.

The staff loaded up the last of the provisions and Anna signed off on it along with one of the town ministers.

They weren't doing _all_ that bad though in the grand scheme of things. Since they weren't seiged in at the town walls, food itself wasn't a problem. Even in winter, Arendelle had more than enough skilled huntsmen to go out and trap meat and ice fish, so they weren't starving. Not by a long shot.

Grains and fruit and vegetables on the other hand…

They were already low on supplies and would be running even lower until spring came. That was… if it even "came." If the ground thawed enough for planting, that'd mean the mountain passages would've thawed too.

Not by much, granted.

Definitely not enough to get an army through.

If Arendelle's natural defenses were a full on suit of armor, the mountain passes would be like tiny pinpricks. Microscopic. Harmless.

But still there.

As the now-loaded cart rumbled off towards the castle gates, a servant crossed the courtyard towards Anna.

"Just arrived, Your Highness," he said, holding out a message tied with a black string. "Since Queen Elsa is out, I thought I should give it to you."

Anna blinked at it.

Black string. Top urgency.

"R-right," she said.

The servant bowed again as she took it and unscrolled it. Inside was written an abnormally short message:

_Stone stolen._

It took a moment for the words to click. Then the blood in Anna's veins froze. Her heartbeat slowed to a sluggish thump.

The stone she and Hans had taken from the cave. The stone with the power to nullify magic.

To nullify her sister's magic.

Arendelle's defenses.

And even as the world was bust pitching itself one way, another even darker thought occurred.

"Where did this message come from?" Anna asked.

"Homing pigeon, Your Highness."

"From which kingdom?"

"I'm… I'm not sure," he replied with a small cough. "The pigeons are all ours, you see. We give them to the other kingdoms, they fly back home… Old Man Floki knows all the birds by sight, but he got really sick last Thursday. Still at home." He paused. "The message doesn't say?"

"No," Anna said. "I can guess, based on the contents…" She frowned. "Or perhaps someone is hoping I'll make that guess."

"What?"

"It's nothing," she quickly said. "Thank you for bringing this to me."

The servant bowed one last time and left.

"Princess Anna?" asked the minister who'd been supervising the supply load with her. "What is it?"

Anna took a sharp breath and then drew herself up as regally as possible. "Confidential information," she said, tucking both scroll and string safely away into a buttoned pocket.

The minister raised his eyebrow. "Is it something that needs to be immediately taken care of?" he asked.

"Oh no, nothing that…" Anna paused and then cleared her throat. "Actually, yes. Yes, it does. Could you finish up the rest here without me?"

With official approval to excuse herself, Anna made her way back into the palace. She found an empty corridor and leaned against the wall. Her fingers dug the paper back out of her pocket, and she read the short message again.

And again.

Anna frowned. It'd been so long, she couldn't tell whether it was Rapunzel's handwriting or not. Or whether it was Eugene's or not. Or her aunt's. Or her uncle's… Although she _did_ have a bunch of letters stashed in her room that she could compare it against.

Because that was the thing.

It made sense for the message to have come from Corona. It made sense for it to be a short, desperate warning from her family, sent in the hopes that a small, unmarked messenger bird would be able to slip through whatever barriers Hans had erected around the kingdom ever since he'd annexed it.

But then it _also_ made sense for the message to be from Hans himself.

Or at least one of his lackeys.

After all, his ships and armies had been stuck at the mouth of the fjord for months. It'd been even longer than that since Hans had taken over Corona, since the vault with the stone in it would've fallen into his hands. Assuming he'd had the power to steal it that entire time, why would it have only happened _now_?

Perhaps the real reason Anna hadn't gotten any recent letters from her family was because they'd escaped. They could've escaped from Corona with the stone ages ago, and the letter currently in her hands was just a ruse. Hans could be hoping for Arendelle to panic, for Elsa to withdraw herself from the front lines.

Anna bit her lip.

Retreat or stay, whatever Arendelle chose to do was a risk. Not too mention that Elsa's patience was running just as thin as Hans' probably was these days. The last thing Arendelle needed was for its queen to be spurred into a reckless attack…

"Anna?"

She jumped, the message nearly tumbling from her hands. She scrambled for it—the paper crumpling beneath her fingers—and managed to stuff it back into her pocket.

"Oh," Anna said blankly as she looked up. "Kristoff. You're back. I mean, you're back! Obviously it's great to see you back! Sorry, long day…"

Kristoff sighed. "Don't be sorry just because you don't have a smile on your face twenty-four seven," he said before brushing at his sleeves. They were crusted with ice and snow, a sign that he'd came straight to the palace from the town's now weekly hunt. "God knows it's been tough on all of us." He paused. "What were you reading?"

"Nothing," Anna said automatically. "Just some boring, logistical stuff."

She fought to keep a wince from her face.

It wasn't that she didn't _trust _Kristoff, but rather… until she checked it against her Coronan letters upstairs, the fewer that knew about the message, the better. If rumors started to spread—

"How was the catch this week?" Anna asked.

"Pretty good," he said. "Should be more than plenty to last."

Anna smiled. "Which means you'll be in town for at least the next three days?"

"At least," he grinned back.

"Great, because I just need to take care of this _really important_ thing right now," Anna said, choosing to ignore the way his grin suddenly dropped into a frown. "I'll make sure Gerda has some nice, hot soup cooking for dinner. We'll all give you a proper welcome home. I promise."

As she tried to sidle away, Kristoff snuck a hand around her waist and drew her back.

Anna's eyes narrowed. "I'm being serious here," she said.

"So am I," Kristoff said. "I can't let you go until I give you your birthday present."

Anna stared at him.

"It's not anywhere near my birthday."

"Okay, yeah… so not a birthday present, but still something special," he admitted. "We've all been pushing ourselves hard since, well, since the war started, and I figured you needed a treat almost more than anyone, so I went got you…"—he dug around in the satchel that was strapped across his chest—"…this!"

He pulled out a yellow apple.

A fresh, whole apple.

"Oh my God," Anna breathed. "Where did you get that?"

"A good magician never reveals his secrets," Kristoff said as Anna began to reach out for it. "Although in this instant, let's just say I know a guy. The fjord's frozen, but he might've had a few"—he cleared his throat—"secret overland connections."

Anna's fingers froze.

"You know we're not supposed to be trading with any of the neighboring kingdoms," she said with a frown. "If Elsa found out…"

"Yeah, but she doesn't _have_ to find out," Kristoff said. "Come on, Anna. It's one apple. It's not like the guy was smuggling military equipment or state secrets."

"You don't know that," Anna said flatly.

"He's a close friend. I trust him."

Anna lifted an eyebrow. As warm as Kristoff was, he wasn't quite the 'close friend' type. Not with humans at least.

"Alright," Kristoff groaned. "He's a friend of a friend… of a friend." He ignored the moan exasperation and disgust from Anna. "Point is, I _do_ trust him. Okay?"

Anna continued to grumble to herself. _Tiny pinpricks_, her mind reminded her. _It all started with tiny pinpricks._ If she was cool and objective, she'd put her foot down and—

It'd been way too long since she'd had fresh fruit.

Anna snatched the apple from Kristoff's hands. "Just this once," she quickly said.

"Just this once."

Anna's face tried to rearrange itself into a smile. She settled for giving him a peck on his stubbly check. "I do still have that thing I need to do though."

"No problem. I can wait for you until whenever."

After they'd said their temporary goodbyes, Anna quickly made her way to her room. She passed the apple back and forth between her hands for a moment before placing it on top of her desk. As much as she wanted to bite into it right then and there, some things tasted sweeter the longer they were savored.

Right now she had to take care of the letters.

Anna knelt in front of her desk and began pulling out drawers. They'd been organized… once, like everything in her life. Now they overflowed with random missives and personal correspondence and copied minutes from important meetings. Most of them weren't relevant anymore—hadn't been since the alliance had fallen apart—but Anna hadn't been able to throw them out yet.

Everything had been so much busier back then, each day alight with a sort of… fire.

So much for the glory days of war.

Anna paused on an old, joint-sent letter from the Kingdoms of Nordheim and Fjordane—her fingers traced the curves of her name—then placed it aside and continued her search.

She finally found the small stack of Coronan letters in the back of the second to last drawer from the bottom. Most of the edges had been bent from multiple rereads. Anna opened one from Rapunzel—laying it flat on the floor, and then unrolled the black-tied message with shaking hands.

Penmanship comparison was hardly an area of experience for her, but Anna's stomach dropped all the same.

They were a perfect match.

* * *

Elsa still hadn't gotten back from the front by the time dinner was ready. Olaf was gone too; he spent most of his time these days in town, checking-in on various struggling families and keeping their spirits up.

Anna and Kristoff ate alone, the dining hall feeling even more cavernous than usual.

There was no reason to keep the message from Kristoff now, but Anna put off mentioning it all the same. She asked him more about his hunt, asked him about the next one, wondered aloud whether or not the kitchen had any possible treats to bring to Sven tomorrow.

All silly things, really.

Still, the longer she avoided the topic, the longer it didn't seem to quite _exist_ yet.

After dinner, they retired to the palace library. Anna grabbed the novel that she'd been slowly reading over the past month, got herself settled onto the couch next to the fireplace, and then stared blankly at its pages.

It wasn't right.

Elsa was off fighting—or at least creating hulking snowmen that could fight _for_ her—to keep Arendelle safe, and Anna was just sitting here. Reading.

Not that Anna would contribute much on the battlefield. Knowing her luck, she'd probably be an anti-contribution.

And the weekly supply coordination _was _important. After all, they couldn't keep fighting a war if they weren't keeping down the home front…

…even if she was only just a co-signer on everything. A co-checker.

A co-chief officer of morale.

Anna's fingers tightened around the cover of the book, and she had to fight herself from throwing it across the library.

Sometimes she felt like such a joke.

Midnight came and went. Anna was about to give up on her full five pages of progress and head off to bed when a servant entered with a small announcement: Elsa had officially returned.

Anna excused herself from Kristoff to find her. Not that there ended up being much of a search involved. She discovered Elsa hunched over the desk in her study.

Surprise, surprise.

Lingering in the doorway, Anna cleared her throat.

Elsa didn't move.

Anna cleared her throat again, harder, and it fell apart into a cough halfway through.

"Oh," Elsa said, glancing up. She brushed her bangs away from her face. "Anna. What is it?"

Anna took a deep breath.

Keeping it from Kristoff was one thing. Keeping it from Elsa… She just prayed that her sister wouldn't end up doing anything rash.

"We…" Anna paused as she dug the message out of her pocket. "We received this today." As she handed it over to Elsa, she added, "I checked the handwriting against one of Rapunzel's old letters. It matched…"

Elsa's mouth pressed into a tight line. Her fingers were white, but untrembling, as they clutched the small piece of paper.

"Elsa?" Anna cautiously asked.

"If- If this is really from Rapunzel," Elsa finally said. "We need to form a backup plan for our defenses."

Anna couldn't do anything but nod.

"You probably don't want to hear this, but I'm going to stay at the front," Elsa continued. She shook her head. "It's just, it doesn't make sense though that Hans would've waited this long to steal the stone. I know you said you checked the handwriting, but if Rapunzel was forced to write this… or if someone forged it, then changing our current defense formations could be playing right into their hands."

"Actually, that's… that's pretty much what I thought too," Anna said. She twisted her hands together. "Oh, and I haven't told anyone about it yet. Including Kristoff."

"Good. Keep it that way for now," Elsa said as she rolled up the message and put it away in her desk. She looked up at Anna. "Is there anything else?"

Anna blinked, shocked that the matter had apparently been 'taken care of' so quickly. She hesitated, wanting to say something more, simultaneously ignoring and embracing the queasy feeling rolling around in her gut, but couldn't think of anything else to say. She and Elsa were technically in agreement about the message and the potential risk involved no matter what they did. If Anna suddenly changed her position just to have something more to say, she'd be arguing with herself.

"Umm… nothing, I guess."

"Alright. See you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, tomorrow…" Anna slunk back towards the hallway door. "Oh!" she said, gripping its frame. "There is one thing."

Elsa lifted an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Just… make sure to get some sleep," Anna said.

Elsa blinked at her younger sister and then sighed. "Of course, Anna," she said. "Of course…"

* * *

Despite what she'd told Elsa, the clock read twenty past one by the time Anna managed to drag herself into bed. Even once she had the covers over herself, she continued shift and squirm.

Head over the pillow.

Head under the pillow.

She couldn't stop thinking about the message and what it might mean. What if Weideland actually had the stone and started using it while she slept? What if she woke up to the castle being invaded? What if she ran downstairs to find Hans…

Hans…

The less she thought about Hans and what he and Elsa might do to each other the better.

Anna squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force herself into unconsciousness. She drifted in and out of sleep, ignoring the slight stiffness in her back that'd been creeping up ever since she'd been mostly stuck within the palace again. She tried to ignore the faint light that was piercing her eyelids.

She rolled over, trying to bury her head beneath the pillow, but it didn't do anything to block out the strengthening glow.

Anna moaned in sleepless frustration. She slammed her pillow off to side and sat up to confront the offending light source…

…and blinked blearily in confusion.

Her bedroom was blanketed in a soft, golden glow. Anna's mind spun, thinking for a split-second that she'd been transported back to the mysterious cave in the southern mountains, and then she realized the light wasn't coming from any sort of stone but from the apple Kristoff had given her. It was still resting on top of her desk where she'd left it, but its skin had morphed from its uniform yellow into a deep, shimmering gold.

Anna blinked several times, but it didn't morph back.

The slight chill in the air had also seeped into the floor. Anna ignored the protest in her feet as she swung both of them over the side of her bed and made her way over. She blinked again, and the apple and desk fused, leaving an ancient, gnarled tree twice her height standing in its place. A couple dozen golden apples hung from its branches.

The glow strengthened into a shine, casting everything in her into the same color.

Anna stood at the edge of the trunk and stared at the nearest apple. Its skin glittered like a… like half-gold, half-gemstone _thing,_ spotted with tiny flecks of pure light.

She reached out a hand, and her fingertips brushed—

Anna sat up.

The room was dark, a mess of grey and black shapes with fuzzy outlines. Her hands were clutching the edges of her blanket. As she took a moment to let her eyes adjust, she spotted the apple still sitting on her desk.

Plain. Dull. Ordinary.

Anna frowned, then took a moment to rub her eyes before she pushed herself out of bed with protesting limbs. She stumbled over to her desk with a stifled yawn, paused, and then picked up the apple.

It was cool in her hands.

Just a normal apple.

The strange vision had been a dream. Just a weird dream, brought on by stress. Stress about yesterday's message, stress about the war the general…

Even as she tried to rationalize it away, something low and twisting in her stomach screamed not to.

She felt the urge to take a bite, prove to herself that it was normal apple after all, but then she'd have to eat the whole thing right then and there or risk wasting it. Besides, if it _was_ a weird apple from only God knew where—Anna still didn't trust Kristoff's supposed friend of a friend trader—then biting into it wasn't probably the best idea.

A quick glance at the clock told her it was only half past five. Anna wanted to go back to bed, not do things that would keep her out of it. If she waited until morning she could ask Kristoff more about the man he'd gotten it from and decide what to do from there.

As for now…

Anna opened the top drawer of her desk, tossed the apple in, slammed the drawer shut, and then tottered back off to sleep.


	21. Act Three: Part Two

"I don't know what else you want me to say," Kristoff told Anna at breakfast the next morning. "Dag's a good guy. And he sells normal apples. Not poisoned ones to princesses living in dwarf huts. Not magic ones that'd put you right up there with the rest of the gods in Asgard. Just normal, field-grown apples."

Anna huffed. "I _know_ what I saw, and I'm telling you: there was something definitely weird about—"

"Weird about what?"

Elsa wandered bleary-eyed into the dining room.

Kristoff coughed. "Nothing!" he quickly said. As much as he'd been downplaying the smuggling aspect of his gift to Anna, he was obviously scared of what'd happen if Elsa found out. "Anna just had a bad dream last dream last night."

"It was _more_ than just a bad dream," Anna said. "It was…" She hesitated, seeing the pleading look in Kristoff's eyes. He wanted her to keep the apple a secret. But without it, her worries about the dream would seem even sillier than they already were.

Anna sighed. "It just felt really ominous, that's all."

Elsa gave her a soft smile. "We're at war, Anna," she said, taking a seat and pulling a small plate of fish towards her. "I'd be more concerned if you didn't have ominous dreams every so often."

Anna fidgeted. "It wasn't a _normal_ dream," she muttered.

Elsa shook her head and began eating.

Anna frowned, and then felt a touch on her hand. Kristoff had grabbed it. He motioned towards Anna's barely touched plate, a clear request to drop the subject and get on with the rest of her day.

And she _wanted_ to do that.

But she couldn't.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and an apple tree was growing in the place where my desk is," Anna said bluntly, ignoring Kristoff's sharp take of breath.

Elsa looked up.

"The apples were golden," Anna continued.

"Did… did the apples do anything?" Elsa asked.

"Well, not exactly?" Anna admitted. "I woke up as soon as I touched one. That is, I woke up a second time. The real time."

Elsa placed her fork down on the place and folded her hands in front of her. "Can you think of anything that might've _caused_ this dream?"

Kristoff's grip tightened almost painfully around her hand. She'd be selling him out, throwing his gift straight back into his face just because of a silly dream… one that she didn't even fully understand yet…

Anna shrugged.

That didn't count as lying, right?

Elsa sighed and went back to eating. "I don't know what to tell you, Anna," she said after several bites.

Anna didn't respond.

Despite Elsa's late arrival to the table, she finished her food faster than Anna and Kristoff combined. She stood and started to leave.

Anna bit her lip.

"Are you going back to the front?" she asked before Elsa had reached the door.

It'd already been nerve-wracking, watching her leave day after day, not knowing whether Elsa's magic would be enough to protect her for that day, but now that they had the stone to possibly deal with on top of everything else…

Elsa was silent for a moment.

"I have to," she finally said.

As Elsa left, the door behind her closed with a hollow thud.

"She'll be fine," Kristoff said with unflinching, naive optimism.

Anna tried to say something back, but her throat seemed to be shoving all her words back into her stomach where they wrestled with each other for dominance. She settled for nodding instead.

* * *

Anna leaned on the windowsill and stared out at the frozen wasteland that was her home. The sun clung as close at it could to the middle of sky at this time of year… so, in other words, not very close to the middle of the sky at all.

Still, midday.

Elsa would've arrived at the front lines by now. Whatever happened today would already be happening—completely out of Anna's control.

Beneath her hands rested the yellow apple. Anna felt uneasy when she held it, but beneath that scratched an even stronger itch. A feeling that if she faced her uneasiness long enough then some…_thing_ would be waiting for her when she finally broke through to the other side. Another vision perhaps.

Or maybe even a goshdarn, clear cut _answer_ for once.

Imagine that.

Anna still hadn't gathered the courage to bite into it. Luckily for her and her indecision, apples took a very long time to rot. With the current temperature, Anna had… what? A month to decide what to do with it? Ten thousand things could happen in a month.

They might be free a month from now, having broken through Weideland's siege.

They might be conquered.

Anna shuddered. She left the window, collapsed on a nearby couch, and passed the apple back and forth between her hands. It was hard to see how they could win at this point when all their other, much stronger allies had already fallen…

The room's door creaked open.

"Hey, Anna!" Olaf's cheerful voice piped a moment later. He waddled up to her couch, eyes locking onto her apple before she had a chance to hide it. "Whatcha got there?"

"Oh…" she said, stomach dropping as she try to calculate how quickly the information was going spread from him to Elsa. So much for protecting Kristoff. Maybe if she ate it now, she could claim that it'd never existed. "Just a present."

"Cool," Olaf said. He continued to stare at it. "Aren't you going to eat it?"

Anna sighed in exhaustion. "I have no idea," she said.

Olaf slowly frowned and then suddenly gasped, his eyes snapping wide. "Is it poisoned?" he asked. "It's poisoned, isn't it? Who gave you that apple? How many old women do you know? Wait, no. How many step-mothers do you know?" He gasped again. "Anna, do you have a secret step-mother?"

Anna fought the urge to laugh and groan at the same time.

"It's not poisoned, Olaf," she managed to say. "Or at least, I don't _think_ it is."

"Oh, okay…" Olaf said, sounding more disappointed than relieved by the news. "Who gave it to you then?"

Anna whispered a quick mental apology. She could lie to the small, trusting snowman, but it'd only get things more jumbled up than they already were.

"It's— it was a present from Kristoff."

"Kristoff? Ooh, that's a lovely present then," he said as he reached for the apple with his stick fingers. Anna held it back, and Olaf stopped. "Why haven't you eaten it yet?"

Anna sighed. "I…" She winced, feeling even sillier about the explanation than she had this morning. "I had a had weird dream about it last night."

Olaf nodded in silence. He took a seat on the far end of the couch and motioned for Anna to lie back, placing her head by his snowy side. She clutched the apple against her stomach and stared up at the ceiling as she described the dream in depth.

"And then I woke up," she finished. "And the tree was gone and my desk was just a desk again. But… I'm not really worried about the dream itself. It's more the apples that were in the dream… and this apple." Anna traced her fingers across its surface. "It's like, I look at this apple and I know there's something _wrong_ about it. But the wrongness isn't about this apple either? There's… a shadow apple or something that's behind this apple and it's the _shadow apple_ that I should be able to see, but I'm… not."

The words that were tumbling out of her mouth didn't make sense to even her anymore.

Anna was officially turning crazy. This was how craziness started.

She groaned. "Just forget everything I just said."

But unlike the others, Olaf simply stared up at the ceiling in contemplative silence.

"Have you ever felt this way before?" he finally asked.

"Of course not," Anna automatically replied. "Or… no, at least not, exactly? But maybe? I guess?" Her stomach twisted. "But this isn't like that," she said firmly.

"What was the other time?" Olaf asked, apparently not liking that answer.

Anna frowned. "It was with me and Elsa. Some of my earliest memories of us together: sledding… making snowmen…" Her fingers pressed against the skin of the apple, nails longing to dig in. "Sometimes the details didn't seem to line up. Whatever magic the trolls used back then, it wasn't perfect. And whenever I thought about those cracks too much—like the time we made a giant snow fortress with books in the walls even though we weren't ever allowed to bring books out of the palace—the whole memory would kind of… slip away."

Her frown deepened, and she sat up, turning to face Olaf.

"But like I said," Anna told him. "This isn't anything like that."

Olaf stared at her with wide, unblinking eyes. "Why not?"

Anna stared back.

She didn't have an answer.

* * *

Anna found Kristoff in the stables giving a brush down to Sven. The reindeer was happy to see her, albeit a bit less happy when she dragged Kristoff out of the stall, putting a sharp end to the bristled massage.

"I don't think there's anything weird with the apple you gave me," she told him.

"Awesome," Kristoff said. "Did you–"

"I think it's been a trigger for something _else_ that's weird," she continued. "Something important I've forgotten. Somehow the apple's been trying to remind me about it."

Kristoff stared at her.

"What?" he said.

Anna sighed. "I'm not saying the apple _itself _is trying to tell me something," she said. "It's… I don't know. Maybe something about apples in general? Or apple trees? Haven't you ever seen something and it brings up a random, old memory you didn't even know you had anymore?"

"Wait, let me get this straight," Kristoff said as he crossed his arms. "You're saying you've forgotten something again? Something really important? Like sister-having-magic-that-will-endanger-the-kingdom important?" Sven nudged against his arm and Kristoff pushed the reindeer away. "Later buddy."

"You know, it's not like I ever _chose _to forget that particular…" Anna muttered. "But yes. Something like that."

Kristoff frowned. "But the last time that happened…" His eyes swept across Anna from head to toes to head. "She hasn't hit you in the head again, has she?"

"No! I mean, even if she had and I'd forgotten, there's no reason that she'd keep it from me," Anna said. "Not anymore."

"Alright," Kristoff said. "Then we can cross that possible cause off the list. What other magical stuff have you been involved with?"

Anna's lips twisted. Her thoughts were already barreling towards one incident in particular, and her throat dried with every single detail that got thrown back.

"There's Rapunzel," she said instead, delaying the obvious. "But she says she hasn't had a drop of magic in her since she healed Eugene that one time. And that happened before we ever met."

"Okay, what else?"

Anna interlaced her fingers and then reached up, scratching Sven behind the ears.

"I don't know," she mumbled. "I mean, there was that blizzard… and the stone from the cave."

Kristoff scowled. "Hans."

Anna swallowed, not daring to speak. She was starting to regret not telling him about Rapunzel's message. If there _was_ something wrong with her because of that journey three years ago, Kristoff would lump it straight into the whole mess that was happening now. She'd have to drag him back from galloping to the front lines before he got both of them killed.

"I _did_ touch the stone with my bare hands," Anna continued, trying to drag the focus off Hans. "Maybe some ancient knowledge or memory got passed into my brain without me knowing it? I mean, gold stone… gold tree…"

"Maybe," Kristoff muttered.

Anna frowned. "I need to visit your family."

"When?"

"Umm… today? Possibly?"

He stared at her.

"It's February," he said.

"I know."

"The sun's already starting to set. We'd be making the trip in the dark."

"I know."

"Anna," he said, tone pleading. "I don't know if you've noticed, but there's kind of a war going on. We're talking about a seriously dangerous journey."

"The war is _exactly _why we need to go today," Anna said. She glanced around the stables. They were fairly empty, but she didn't want to take any chances. She took a step closer to Kristoff and lowered her voice to a whisper. "If this memory is as important as I think it is, it can't wait until tomorrow."

Kristoff groaned, dragging his hand across his forehead. "Give me one reason why it can't," he said. "Give me one reason why we can't just spent tonight safely researching in the library. Your sister's defenses are kind of ice solid. Literality."

Anna closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe. In and out.

So much for _both_ of her secret promises.

"Elsa's defenses might not be as solid as we think they are," she said, eyes still closed.

She listened for Kristoff's immediate response.

It didn't come.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he finally asked.

Anna cracked one eye open, then the other. Kristoff's face was calm but stiff as his eyes bored into hers.

"We— We got a message from… well, we _think_ it's from Rapunzel but we're still not certain," Anna forced herself to say. She bit her lip. "The stone's been taken. Weideland might have it on one of their ships."

Kristoff sucked in a sharp breath. "You mean _Hans_ might have it on one of his ships," he said. "And we _are_ talking about the same stone? The one that stopped that blizzard? The one you said blocks all magic from existing? The one you said might be blocking your memories?"

Anna nodded, trying to ignoring the ache of her heart clenching in on itself.

"And Elsa knows too?"

Anna nodded again.

"Who else?"

"I don't know. Just us? She told me to keep it a secret since we don't know whether or not the message is a trap or not."

Kristoff closed his eyes. "How long have you been keeping this from me?"

"Just one day, I promise. So many things happened yesterday that—"

"Wait, yesterday?" Kristoff asked, opening his eyes. "You mean that 'boring business letter'?"

Anna flinched. "…yes?"

Kristoff sighed and the slump in his shoulders made her cringe with guilt more than any enraged outburst could have.

"You do know you can trust me," he finally said. "Right?"

"I know," Anna said. "And normally I _would've_ told you, but the news is still so new and Elsa—"

"It's alright. I understand," he said. "But speaking of Elsa, you're going to need her permission before you charge into this wild goose chase."

"What?" she said. "She's not even back from the front yet. It could be hours."

Kristoff lifted his hands into a shrug. "Hey look. You can do whatever you want, but I'm not going to be the one answering when she comes after us demanding an explanation for everything."

Anna groaned. As frustrating as it was, he was right. She paused, searching Kristoff's face. "If I tell her everything, I'm going to have to tell her about the apple."

Kristoff squeezed his eyes shut. "Don't remind me about that."

A corner of Anna's lips tugged upwards. "If it makes you feel any better, I _kind of_ already told Olaf, so he was bound to tell her eventually."

"You did wha— No, you know what? I don't even need to know." Kristoff turned towards Sven—who immediately started sniffing his jacket in the hopes of a few leftover, hidden treats—and sighed. "And here I was, really looking forward to a couple days of _not_ riding…"

Anna blinked, and then beamed at him, clasping her hands together. "You mean you'll take me?"

"Why not?" Kristoff said, admitting defeat. He patted Sven on the neck. "We'll be ready whenever you are."

* * *

Anna was putting the finishing touches on her 'Letter of Explanation' when a servant entered her room, informing her that the queen had returned early that day. She struggled for a moment—letter or face to face? letter or face to face?—before she pushed herself out of her desk chair and made her way to her sister's study.

Elsa was curled up in a side chair this time, nursing a cup of hot tea.

"Anna," she said with a smile as her sister entered. "I knew you'd be coming by."

Anna paused. "You did?"

"Of course. You always do."

"Oh," Anna said, suddenly remembering all the nights she'd pretty much dropped everything she'd been doing regardless of the task whenever she'd heard Elsa had returned. "Right."

"Today wasn't too bad. If Hans has the stone with him, he hasn't been showing any signs of using it," Elsa continued. "So we'll just have to continue to be careful."

Anna took a deep breath. "About that…"

Elsa's smile faltered, and then faded entirely as Anna re-explained her dream and then the apple that had triggered it and what she thought it might mean about her memories and the trip she was planning to take that night to the troll's valley.

When she was finally finished, Elsa was deathly silent.

"Elsa?" Anna prompted, her voice sounding small in the stillness.

Her sister stood. She placed her tea cup on an end table—frost spread from beneath its base—and began to pace the room.]

"You think this happened sometime during your journey in the southern blizzard?"

Anna nodded.

"Then… can you remember if there was ever any undocumented time you had back then? Anything whatsoever?"

"Huh?"

"Parts you can't remember?"

Anna lifted an eyebrow. "You're asking me if I can remember stuff that I can't remember?"

Elsa stopped pacing and groaned softly. "No, I—" she took a deep breath. "Was there any time Hans could've done something without your knowledge? Any time you were sleeping or unconscious or… anything?"

Anna frowned in thought.

She had slept every single night. Sure, they'd been _possible_ opportunities of attack, but Anna didn't know how to satisfactorily explain to Elsa that he hadn't done anything then. Not to mention that most of them had been spent far away from the stone and anything else remotely magical.

"No," Anna said before the silence grew too long.

There was nothing at all that—

And then she remembered the cave on the mountain side—the secret home of the stone, guarded by giant stone ravens. There'd been that second earthquake.

She'd been knocked unconscious.

But Hans had stayed by her side the entire time.

Or, at least, that was what he'd told her…

"Anna…" Elsa said with an edge of warning to her voice, as if sensing her hesitation.

Anna continued to frown. Even if Hans _had_ done something, the stone had been untouched when they'd gotten there. It'd been fine.

Everything had been fine.

"No," Anna repeated. "There was nothing."

Elsa didn't seem reassured.

"What about when you went to sleep?" she asked.

"Well, obviously I was out of it when I was sleeping," Anna said with a small hand wave. "But that's completely unrelated."

Elsa stared at her. "Anna. That's the very definition of related."

"Yeah, but we didn't have the stone on the way there."

"And on the way back?"

"The guards were with us for most of it," she said, silently counting the total days she'd been alone with Hans on her fingers. "The one day they weren't, I used the stone as a pillow. There's no way he could have gotten to it without waking me up."

Elsa closed her eyes. "There are thousands of ways he could've gotten past you," she said flatly.

Anna's face twisted into something halfway between a scowl and a pout.

Elsa sighed.

"You should know that I don't like one bit of this," she said, trailing a hand on her desk and overlaying the grain of it with frost. "And I hate the thought of you riding out to the valley with only God knows what out there, but…" She looked up at her sister and locked eyes. "I'm with you."

"Wait," Anna said. "You are?"

"If you've forgotten something important about that stone," Elsa continued. "Now's the time we need you to remember it. As soon as possible. Do you want a company of guards?"

Anna shook her head, still not entirely grasping the fact that Elsa was actually _supporting_ one of her plans for once. "Arendelle needs them more than I do," she said.

Elsa frowned. "Don't forget Arendelle needs you as well."

Anna's cheeks flushed as she snorted in dismissal. "Yeah, right," she said with a dismissive hand wave. "I can't fight. I can't make magical snowmen warriors…"

"That stuff's not important," Elsa said firmly.

Anna bit back a sarcastic, self-deprecating retort. It'd only cause her and Elsa to start arguing again.

"Just…" Elsa took a deep breath as she placed a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Be careful? Alright?"

Anna smiled. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, and she wrapped her sister in a tight hug to hide them. "Don't worry," she whispered. "I will."

* * *

Despite Olaf's burning desire to tag along as soon as he overheard the plan, Anna and Kristoff left him at the palace with Elsa. They shared Sven, Anna holding onto Kristoff's sides as they galloped past the town's gates and into the first fringes of mountain forest, gaining elevation with each second.

When they'd gained enough height, Anna looked back.

Beneath both them and a waning moon lay Arendelle, clinging desperately to the side of the fjord. Only a few buildings and rooms of the castle were lit. Another snow cloud was brewing. It blocked out large swatches of stars as it started to dump more powder onto the already smothered landscape.

Anna faced forward and buried her nose into the furs of Kristoff's coat, hoping that the hidden memories buried in her head would be enough to turn the tide.


	22. Act Three: Part Three

Elsa kept her face blank as she studied the map that'd been laid out across her desk. It'd only been an hour since Anna and Kristoff had left for the valley of the trolls, but she couldn't let that affect her existing commitments. Beside her stood General Berg, Arendelle's chief of defense and one of the select few who knew about yesterday's message.

"Now," the stout, greying man said. "Assuming the worst happens and the entire southern battalion melts, I can get a smaller platoon of my men stationed here." He pointed at a jagged peninsula about halfway between Arendelle and the sea. "The western banks will be unprotected, but this should create a strong, naval choke point to cover the rest of our lands to the east."

Elsa frowned.

If General Berg was pointing out this particular spot to her, she had no doubt Hans' advisors would be doing the same for him. Given the peninsula's seeming strategic importance, he'd find a way to bypass any men stationed there entirely.

"And if he doesn't use ships?" Elsa asked.

The general coughed. "Well, most of the land there is too steep to be traversable, so he'd have to use one of these four mountain paths to reach the heart of the kingdom," he said, moving his finger across to four separate, annoyingly-spaced apart markings. "But logically—"

"Forget about logic when you're dealing with this man," Elsa told him. "What would it take to have lookouts stationed on each of these paths?"

"If that message's contents are true and we lose your majesty's personal forces, we'd be spread thin as it is," Berg said, shaking his head. "Also we'd also have to account for some troop rotation given the current state of the weather, but all things considered—"

There was a knock at the door.

Elsa and the general looked up. The interruption wasn't exactly surprising; there seemed to be one every half hour of her life these days. Elsa swept her eyes over her map, checking that any confidential information hadn't penned down, before calling the person—a jittery, young soldier—in.

"Yes?" she asked, lacing her fingers together.

"We've— We've captured one of the enemy, your majesty."

Elsa lifted an eyebrow. "Captured?" All of Arendelle's men were supposed to be on strict "do not engage" orders when she wasn't at the front to magically assist.

"Well…" the soldier said, wringing his hands as he directed his speech at the floor. "He surrendered actually. Came up onto land with a white flag—which, in hindsight, is rather hard to see against the snow. Anyway, it was Sergeant Marshmallow who discovered him."

Elsa blinked, then turned to Berg to see if he knew what to make of the situation. He nodded grimly.

"And is this surrender captive saying anything?" Berg asked the solider.

The soldier swallowed. "Actually, he said he wants to speak to Queen Elsa." The solider's eyes flicked briefly up to meet Elsa's then snapped straight back to the floor. "That he _won't_ speak to anyone but her."

Elsa inhaled sharply.

Something wasn't right. After months and months of gridlock, first that message, then Anna's visions, now this…

"Where is the man?" she asked.

"Outside the town walls. Guarded and shackled."

"And you searched the man? Disarmed him?"

The solider's eyes widened. "Yes, your majesty! First thing we did. As is procedure."

Elsa tightened her fingers against her knuckles.

She had no idea what the magical stone of Anna's tales looked like in person. Obviously she had Anna's descriptions of it—more of a boulder than a stone, and impossible to smuggle anywhere—but her sister also had a habit of exaggerating crucial details or, worse, omitting some entirely. The stone could be smaller than Elsa was imagining, not to mention the possibility of Hans chiseling a piece off. He could've chiseled hundreds of pieces off, slipping them into the pockets of various sailors, creating his own walking, breathing mine field…

"Your majesty," Berg whispered. "Assuming this captive is properly searched, it could be advantageous to hear what he has to say."

Elsa nodded. To the young solider, she said, "Make sure your men search him again. Remove not just weapons, but everything from his person. I don't want there to be even a single _pebble_ on him before he passes through the palace gates."

The solider looked hesitant about this order, not speaking or gesturing in anyway to show that he understand.

"Any problems?" she asked.

The soldier coughed, turning red. "Even his clothes?"

Elsa blinked.

Then she sighed.

"No, of course not— Check them, obviously, but the man can keep his clothes."

As the soldier nodded and excused himself to carry out her command, Elsa leaned forward and buried her hands into her hair.

* * *

The door to the captive's room was plain and unadorned, save for the two soldiers that stood guard outside it.

Elsa took a deep breath.

"And you're sure you've thoroughly searched him?" she asked one of the men.

"Yes, your majesty."

Elsa turned. In addition to General Berg, she'd brought along four bowmen to stand alongside the walls as she interrogated the captive soldier. If he _had_ managed to smuggle in a piece of the stone, there'd be several arrow shafts sticking out of his chest in a matter of seconds.

"Very well then," Elsa said. She nodded to the soldiers and they opened the door.

Inside the room was a single table. The captured—voluntarily surrendered, Elsa reminded herself—Weideland soldier was sitting at the far end, his wrist and ankles shackled together but otherwise untouched. He looked completely unremarkable, neither hulking nor pathetic, neither cringing in fear nor smirking with dastardly plans.

Elsa remained standing as her bowmen took their positions.

"You wished to speak to me?" she asked.

The soldier nodded slowly, eyes darting between each gleaming point of steel. "Yes, thank you for agreeing to meet with me personally, your majesty. I can't express how grateful I am for the gracious oppor—"

Elsa waved him silent. "You have something you wish to tell me personally?"

"Yes…" the soldier said, his face finally taking on a paler shade. "King Hans, like you, understands the cost that this war is having on both sides."

Elsa inhaled sharply. "Does he now?" she drawled. Somehow she doubted Hans had a single inkling of the pain and suffering that he'd been causing, let alone an 'understanding.'

"Of course," the solider said, seemingly blind to her sarcasm. "Rather than have countless more lives lost, countless families torn apart, he seeks to meet with you and develop a truce of peace between our two great nations."

_Lies,_ Elsa's mind screamed.

Beside her, Berg coughed. "Your majesty," he whispered. "The floor."

Elsa glanced down and started; a thin layer of ice covered half the floor. With a furtive wave, she willed back away into shining powder. If the captive soldier noticed, he chose not to show it.

_Conceal. Don't feel._

Every so often, her father's old, disastrously misleading advice had its usefulness.

"And what would this truce entail?" Elsa asked once she'd grappled her emotions back under control.

"Peace and independent sovereignty for Arendelle," the solider said automatically. "Provided you do not declare war upon his kingdoms again."

_Don't let it show._

"Independent sovereignty," she repeated, biting out the acrid syllables. "Right. Like the independence Corona and Vestmar used to have before they suddenly went crawling to him for aid?"

The soldier took in a stiff breath. "I don't anything about any of that."

Elsa stayed silent. She glanced between the bowmen. "Keep watching him," she told them as she signaled for Berg to leave the room with her.

"A peace treaty," Berg breathed as soon as the guards had closed the door firmly behind them. "Do you really think the offer could be genuine?"

"Knowing Hans?" Elsa said. "No." She frowned and began to pace to help her think. "Both of our positions are secure right now. Equal. He wouldn't be suggesting this unless there was something in it that'd tip the balance in his favor." She paused, glancing back at the door. "I should say 'no.'"

"Perhaps…" the general muttered. "Or perhaps we can find a way to use this to our advantage."

Elsa stared at him coldly. "With Hans there's _never_ an advantage."

"Tell me," Berg said with a nod towards the room. "Is that man in there a threat?"

"That's not… No, he isn't," Elsa admitted, recalling the way the four crossbow bolts had been pointing at his heart. Her mind replaced the face of the solider with a certain red-haired king's. "But we're hardly talking about the same man."

"Men are men—flesh and blood, regardless of the differences between body or mind," Berg said. "King Hans wants a peace meeting? Then we'll accept it, but on our terms. He'll surrender himself to our forces, allow himself to be searched _and_ restrained like this man here. We'll strip him of all his supporting pieces before he takes a single step onto our side of the board."

Elsa laced her fingers together. "General Berg, that all sounds good in theory, but…"

Berg raised an eyebrow. "But what, your majesty? Are you proposing that he'll be able to rip apart his steel chains?"

"No," she said. "At least not with brute strength."

"Then you propose one of your own subjects will betray you."

"Perhaps, or— I don't know…" She took a deep breath and stared Berg straight in the eyes. "This man almost killed me," she said, trying to impress into him the full depth of the threat. "When you sail down the fjord, it's not the rock you see that worry you."

"I understand that," Berg said. "But as facts stand, we have no more remaining allies. If King Hans has this stone like you fear he does, this could be his final olive branch before he decides to crush everything we hold dear. And if word gets out to our people that you straight out _refused_ to even consider a peace treaty—"

"I know! I know the risks!" Elsa hissed, throwing her hands up as if they'd be able to physically block out his words. "It's just…"

Berg sighed and his frame seemed to crumple with it. "I'm sorry, your majesty. In all honesty, this situation is far more difficult than anything your father ever had to face." He took a deep breath and looked at the door, thoughtful. "Of course… there is _one_ other option."

Elsa ventured a cautious look.

"If he agrees to our strict terms, we'll have him cut off from his forces," he whispered, drawing her close so that not even the guards stationed nearby could hear. "Alone. He'd be a commander putting his life solely into enemy hands."

Elsa's eyes widened, sensing the path he was about to travel.

"While there's a definite possibility that his soldiers in the fjord will rally together to free him," Berg continued, "the rest of his subjects will much more likely see it as an opportunity for freedom. He's been ruling all of them, replacing old families, suppressing old grudges and grievances in his efforts to wipe away provincial borders… Two years is hardly enough time for a new king to secure basic loyalty, let alone popularity."

Elsa glanced at her two guards, but their postures remained stiff and unaffected.

"You're suggesting we break the laws of war and keep him prisoner?" she whispered back. While Elsa had no personal qualms with doing that—none whatsoever, the laws were there for a reason. Even if all the other kingdoms welcomed the outcomes of such a move, they'd never be able to look at Arendelle and fully trust her again.

And then there was…

"Only if things take a sour turn," Berg said. "And this is assuming he even agrees to our terms. Which he probably won't, at which point it becomes his problem again. Not ours." He paused, frowning. "Something else is troubling you, your majesty?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just— Just my sister," Elsa said. "Anna had…" Berg had always been an extremely pragmatic man, and she had to pick her words carefully if she wanted him to take it seriously. "Anna had a vision of sorts. She's gone to the Valley of the Living Rock to figure out what it means."

"What does that have to do with any of this?"

"Nothing, like I said. But… I wonder if, perhaps, it might be better to wait until she gets back?"

"And when would that be?"

Elsa froze, realizing that she'd never thought to ask. Not that Anna would've known an answer to give her. "I'm not sure," she admitted.

The general sighed. "Well, if either of us hopes to outthink King Hans, any possibility we have of doing that comes sooner rather than later. Of course, if you wish to wait for your sister's return for an _indeterminate_ amount of time…"

He sniffed loudly, showing quite clearly what he thought of that plan.

Elsa frowned. If Anna's missing memories involved Hans somehow, then she'd be an idiot to go ahead with such an important—and risky—meeting without them. But she had no idea how long it'd take for the trolls to help her sister. _If_ they were able to even help her at all…

"Alright," Elsa said, trying to ignore her slivers of uncertainty as they laced together into a constricting web. "Let's get our reply back to their king."

* * *

Anna peeled off her gloves and began to rub some warmth back into her hands as she made her way deeper into the unnaturally lush valley. Above her, the stars blazed with blue fire across a clear sky, meaning Elsa had either gotten her powers back under control… or she hadn't and this was just the magic of the valley doing its weird magical valley _thing_ again.

"Hey guys!" Kristoff shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. "I'm back home!"

Home.

Despite all the time Kristoff spent in the palace, this would always be his true home, a bed of moss beating out linens and goose feathers each and every time. Anna wished she could love the valley like he obviously did. Oh, she liked it of course—it was pretty and Kristoff's family was always welcoming on the verge of overdoing it, but every time Anna accompanied him she couldn't help but be reminded of the first time she'd visited—the way her heart had been icing over with each step, growing heavier in her chest, pressing down against her lungs, making it harder to walk, harder to breathe…

Anna shivered.

She really hoped a similar thing wasn't secretly happening to her again.

A cluster of nearby boulders started to tremble, then rolled forward and somersaulted with a pop into humanoid forms, among them Kristoff's adoptive mother Bulda.

"Kristoff!" the youngest shouted, tackling him around his waist.

"You're back early!"

"Oh no, is it the war?" Bulda asked.

"Anna's here too! Hi, Anna!"

"I'm fine," Kristoff quickly assured them as Sven bent down to lick the tops of their heads. More trolls started to approach from distant corners of the valley. "The war is… well, fine's probably not the _best_ word, but it's hanging in there. Actually, we've come because of something completely different. Is Grand Pabbie around?"

The trolls stared at him in silence before breaking out amongst themselves in hushed whispers. Asking to speak to the troll king wasn't an ominous request on its own—Pabbie was family right along with the rest of them, but to skip the usual pleasantries and ask _directly_ for a meeting…

"What is it?" a deep voice rumbled.

Starting from the back, the growing crowd of trolls parted to let Grand Pabbie lumber down the valley steps towards Anna and Kristoff.

"It's…" Kristoff's face was torn between a wince and a smile as he looked at Anna.

She cleared her throat.

"It's me," Anna said. "Well, it's my head." She glanced up in thought. "Again."

Pabbie squinted at her, apparently examining some invisible thing, as the other trolls watched in tense silence. Then he frowned. "Come closer, child."

She did and then got down her knees for extra measure. Anna wasn't sure if the old troll could actually, physically _see_ anything by staring at her hair this close or if it was more of a magical sense thing, but anything that could help—no matter how small—she would do.

Pabbie made several deep 'hmm' sounds in the back of his throat before grabbing her head with both of his stone hands. Anna let out a yelp of surprise as she was yanked forward.

"Watch it!" Kristoff said. "She _is_ a princess, you know."

"Ssh!" Bulda hissed. "He knows what he's doing."

Pabbie slowly turned her head left, held it there, and then turned it to the right. "Strange," he muttered, not letting go. "Very strange…"

Anna's stomach clenched. "What is?" she asked, not entirely sure that she wanted to know the answer.

Finally, his rough fingers released her. Anna stood and reached up, smoothing the top braids of her hair in an attempt to keep calm as the old troll shook his head.

"The last time I saw magic quite like this…" he said. "It's been more than eleven hundred years."

"Wait," Kristoff said. "So it is magic?"

"Eleven hundred years?" Anna asked, face blanching.

Pabbie stared at her with a new stoop to his stone-like figure. "When did this happen?"

Kristoff and Anna looked at each other, and Anna shrugged.

"That's what we were kind of hoping you could tell us," Kristoff said.

Pabbie shook his head. "An enchantment this powerful… it is impossible to tell from a glance," he said. "The only way is to break it entirely and hope that the shadowed memories contained within will grant us the answers we seek."

"Waaaait wait wait wait wait wait," Anna said, a headache quickly approaching. "Pause everything for just a moment. Eleven hundred years? What's so special about this magic inside of me that you haven't seen a lick of it for the last eleven hundred years? That's…" She struggled for words. "That's more than a thousand!"

Pabbie opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then let out deep breath. "There are many names by which it used to be called. But to put it plainly"—he looked around at the surrounding trolls before returning his eyes to Anna's—"it's the magic of the gods."

The valley echoed with gasps and murmurs.

Anna stared at him.

As Pabbie turned to quell the new wave of questions from the other members of his family, Anna felt her head disconnecting. She was there, yes, and she was still hearing words, but none of them seemed to have any meaning. Sounds she definitely recognized were passing in through her ears and registering in her brain, but someone seemed to have forgotten to invite the language department.

Then she blinked and suddenly she was in a round cavern, body numb with cold and her muscles aching. A golden tree stood resplendent before her. A pale hand traced its fingers against the skin of an equally golden apple.

_…the golden apples of Idunn…_

Anna was back in the valley, a slight pressure gripping her arm. She realized vaguely that someone was touching her, holding her. She looked up to see Kristoff staring back in concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice tight.

"It's noth—" Anna started automatically before catching herself. She was here because of her visions. "I saw the tree again."

"Anything else?"

Anna bit her lip, conscious of the many trolls watching her. "I don't know. A hand? But it's all…"

She tried to recapture the memory, to follow the hand down its wrist to its inevitable owner—

Pain lanced from her right temple and into the base of her skull. She hissed, knees buckling and Kristoff scrambled to steady her again.

"Forget I said anything," he said, lowering her to the soft moss. "Just wait until Pabbie comes back."

Anna nodded, trying to push away the disconcerting realization that she hadn't even noticed the old troll leaving. She sat on the ground, fingers burying themselves into the cool dirt as she took slow breaths in and out. She had to let her head clear and not think about what she'd just seen.

But how the hell was she supposed to do _that_ when Grand Pabbie had just straight out implied that she'd had some forgotten run-in with a _god_?! A god that'd tinkered with her head like she'd been some kind of pathetic Pinocchio.

Magic was one thing, but gods weren't supposed to exist. At least… not like this.

And then, worse than that, churning in her gut, was the conviction that she _had_ seen that tree somewhere in real life before. She'd seen that rounded cavern…

Anna winced, her head stabbing with pain again.

"I told you to forget it," Kristoff said.

"Well, _excuse_ me," Anna muttered. "I'd like to see _you_ here on the ground thinking about trying not to think something!" She rubbed the side of her head, cursing everything.

Another elderly troll pushed her way through the crowd. "He's ready," she told them.

"Ready with what?" Kristoff asked.

"The preparations for the ritual."

"What rit—?"

"Kristoff," Anna said. "It's fine. We'll just go with it."

In the end, any strange thing that Pabbie was about to do boiled down to magic that neither of them fully understood. Both of them trusted the old troll with their lives and that's all that mattered.

"I'll take care of Sven," Bulda said as Kristoff helped Anna to her feet.

They followed the elderly troll up the valley steps and to a small, flat-topped hill. Grand Pabbie stood in its center, directing several smaller trolls as they made minute adjustments to a complex ring of crystals and rune stones laid out around him.

"Lay her down on her back," Pabbie told Kristoff, pointing to a spot near his feet.

Kristoff's hands shifted from supporting her to scooping low underneath her legs. Anna waved him away. Her head might've been getting increasingly screwy, but she still at least had the power to sit down by herself.

"This hill is the spiritual center of this valley," Pabbie continued as Anna fidgeted to get comfortable; the moss was soft, but thin. "The natural life force of all its inhabitants flows through this spot, channeling the strength of all things mortal. Humans and trolls alike often discount that power in their quest for immortality. For you see, through our lives—but, more importantly, our deaths—we connect ourselves to everything that has ever been as well as those who have not yet taken their first breaths. Here is where we'll attempt to remove the dark spot that is resting over a corner of your mind."

Anna leaned up on her elbows. "You mean I can't just bank on another Act of True Love this time?" she said, trying to crack a smile.

The grim look that Pabbie returned instantly sobered her.

"The power of love is not a thing to ever be underestimated in this world," he said ponderously. "However… even love has its limitations when it comes to the old magics. Now. Are you ready to begin?"

Anna's eyes widened; she hadn't expected to be jumping straight into it like this. She looked at Kristoff like he'd have the answer. He looked back, equally as wide-eyed, and shrugged.

"This— This ritual won't do anything bad will it?" Anna asked as she laid back down. "Like, say it fails… It's not like this dark spot will, I don't know, go and gobble down other memories. Will it?"

"It should not," Pabbie said.

"_Should_ not?" Anna repeated.

"It is… I have never actually performed this ritual myself," he admitted. "I have only seen others perform it in my youth."

Anna swallowed. She turned her eyes from him and stared up at the stars. They glimmered back at her, cheery and distant.

"You don't have to do this," Kristoff said.

"Yes, I do," Anna said, keeping her eyes on the stars. "This is important. I know it. And… if it's starting to hurt me like this, if there's something in this magic that's actually trying to stop me from remembering, that doesn't _want_ me remembering… then that's all the more reason to figure it out." She turned to Pabbie. "I'm ready."

Pabbie nodded. "Then face forward and close your eyes," he said. Soon after she did so, she felt his stone hands again on the sides of her temples. "Now. Breath in time with both the ground below and the sky above."

Anna had no idea what the heck that meant, so she settled for breathing as evenly as possible. That seemed to do the trick as Pabbie started to chant some unintelligible thing in what sounded like. Every so often she thought she caught a word she knew, a word that'd manage to drift its way through the centuries into their modern tongue, but it was impossible to gather any deeper meaning.

The sounds shifted together, Pabbie's voice blurring with the soft rustles and echoes of the valley until it was all just one steady thrum, and Anna sank further down into the blackness.

* * *

**A/N: Real talk. Since this an absolutely terrible and cruel place to leave you guys on, I'm posting a special chapter one week from now. That's right. In honor of the great tradition of Disney villainy, I'm having a Halloween update. Mark your calendars.**

**Also also, speaking of special chapters and acts and parts... y'all might want to take a second look at the way I titled all of them. There are no errors and never have been.**


	23. Act Three: Act One: Part Nine

Anna groaned.

Her head throbbed like someone had just bashed the back open with a sledgehammer. The pain cut through her vision, replacing normal shapes and colors with dizzy, flashing circles. She waited for them to clear, but as soon as they started to they were replaced by— no, that couldn't be right. The entire world was coated with a wash of golden light.

Anna closed her eyes and went to press her hands against her forehead, but she couldn't move her arms.

There was a rope tied around her wrists.

Another wrapped around her ankles.

Fear shot through her, a cold plunge that left her limbs trembling as her heart began to race. Anna struggled, movements growing frantic. She had no idea what the hell was going—

"It's useless," drawled a familiar voice in a far too familiar tone. "If there's anything any decent sailor picks up in his first month at sea, it's solid knot work."

Anna blinked away the last lingering circles, but the golden light remained. She was lying on the stone floor of the cave but had been moved to a new, circular chamber. Hans was standing near the center, his back to her as he stared up at the branches of a small apple tree. Its apples were golden.

The entire tree was golden.

And glowing.

"What's going on?" Anna demanded, her voice shaking as she managed to push herself up into an unbalanced half-sitting position. Her head spun. _This couldn't be happening. Not again_. "What is that?"

"This?" Hans said with an almost reverent caress to his voice. "This is what we've came all this way for."

"But—"

"Tell me, Anna. Have you ever heard of the golden apples of Idunn? Guarded by the ever vigilant ravens of Odin, legend goes that they gave the ancient gods of your land both their power and their immortality."

Anna's brain scraped against itself in its struggle to keep up.

"You said we were going after a stone…" she said dumbly. "A stone that had the power to nullify magic."

Hans turned towards her, and the look in his eyes made her blood run ice cold. He smiled, his lips empty, hollow, and consuming. "I lied."

She was an idiot. A blind, naive, trusting, _stupid_—

"B-but why?"

"As if you'd have let me set a single _foot_ outside that castle if you'd known the truth." He turned back around and reached out to one of the apples, letting his fingers trail over its glittering surface. "You have no idea the number of pieces I had to put into motion to reach this moment."

"What pieces?" Anna asked, dreading the answer. She dreaded the way he was about to circle around her, the way he was about to toy with her, talk down to her like this wasn't an adult in some life and death situation but instead some two year old that hadn't understand anything about a silly theatre play that they'd just seen.

She dreaded the way he was about to leave her to die.

Hans scoffed.

"When you and your… _sister_"—Anna flinched at the way he sneered the word—"shipped me back to the Southern Isles, I got straight to work. You see, Anna, I'd been defeated. More than that, I'd been humiliated, and I take neither of those things lightly."

Hans snapped one of the apples off its branches. It flickered slightly, its inner light threatening to wink out, and then sprung back into life, shimmering in his hand.

"I immediately began searching for a way defeat you," he continued. "Well, rather your sister. Even when you blocked me at that final moment on the fjord, it was your sister's ice magic that _really_ deflected my blow. After all, act of true love or not, steel _does_ tend to cut straight through flesh and blood. And then, of course, that's not even counting the pathetic way you fell for this scheme even after claiming to know who I truly was. Tell me, how does it feel being utterly useless even after all this time?"

Anna inhaled sharply and dug her tooth into her lip to keep herself from rising to his obvious bait. She pressed down, harder and harder, until a metallic bitterness trickled across her tongue.

"But I digress. Let's go back to the subject of your sister," Hans said, superficially oblivious to her torment. "You see, I've personally always taken slight against the fact that some people are born with the world groveling in their palms while everyone else is left to fight for the scraps. Ability and ambition are sorely neglected, shunned even. So what I realized I needed, what I'd been lacking when I'd first arrived in Arendelle, was an equalizer. And considering your sister's… _gifts_, I realized it'd have to somehow be magical in nature.

"You wouldn't believe the number of old tomes my family's library had on magic, stuck in between the rotting biographies that no one's touched in decades. Most of their contents were complete hogwash… but then I found the entry about these." Hans tossed the apple back and forth from hand to hand. "The Golden Apples of Idunn—hidden only by a series of riddles, just waiting for a brilliant mind like mind to crack. Of course, there was only one problem. The tree that bore this magical fruit was located in a remote cave leagues and leagues away from the Southern Isles where I, alas, was still trapped under house arrest."

Hans began to pace the short length of the cavern. Anna tried one more time to slip her wrists free of their knot, possibly gain enough balance to stand up, but she was stuck on the ground, unable to do much more than wriggle. Her throat felt paper dry at the nauseating familiarity. She fought down a sudden swell of bile as she realized that Hans had probably planned that as well. Everything in this cavern right now—the tree, his body, her position on the floor—had been physically staged, the twisted _magnum opus_ of some depraved mad artist.

"There was the enchantment at the cave's entrance to deal with as well. Even if I managed to escape the Southern Isles and find a way here, it wouldn't have been enough," Hans said, shaking his head. "No, I had to figure out a way to drag someone else with me. Not only that, but someone with royal blood." He snorted in irritation. "And due to the cross-bloodline requirement, it couldn't even be one of my own brothers. No… So I thought to myself"—he tapped his finger playfully on his lower lip—"if I can't leave the kingdom, then why not get the kingdom to leave with me?"

He turned towards Anna again with a smile.

"It's amazing what spells you can find buried away in a royal library when you search hard enough," he said, the light from the apple casting unnatural shadows across his face. "Spells of light and illusion, spells that physically strengthen the caster, spells that bring about eternal winter…"

Anna's face drained of color.

All this time, his promises to help her stop the storm… The whole reason they'd come _all_ this way…

"No," she breathed. "You didn't."

"You have to admit," Hans said, absorbing her clear shock like words of praise. "It worked quite splendidly. Although… Stralshagen did end up being an irritating hiccup." He scowled, features twisting from their usual angelic perfection. "Of all the possible kingdoms to flee to, I should've known my family would pick the one propped up by common _stewards_. But then—just when I'd started to think that I'd unintentionally sentenced myself to an excruciatingly slow, and rather embarrassing, form of suicide… that's when you came along." He swept his hands outwards, gesturing at the surrounding gold-lit cavern. "And everything started falling back into place."

Anna stared at him, stared at the man who she'd actually been _stupid_ enough to begin putting her trust back into. Over the past week, they'd risked their lives for one another. She'd actually thought that'd meant something. They had struggled together, pressing forward, fighting the cold and the wolves and the snow and the mountains… all for the sake of surviving the storm.

The storm that he had created.

"People have died in this storm, Hans," Anna said, her voice brittle and hollow. "Your own people have died, and more are dying every day."

"True. And I shall remember them for their sacrifices."

Her head shook imperceptibly in horror.

"You're sick," she whispered.

As the clip of the "k" pierced the air, Anna thought she saw Hans flinch slightly, but he recovered with a nonchalant shrug.

"I guess I am," he said jovially, before lifting the apple to his mouth to take a bite.

And then he paused.

He frowned, lowering the apple like it'd unexpectedly done something to offend him, and then turned back to Anna. He approached where she was sitting and knelt down to her eye level. Her boots slipped on the stone floor as she scrambled to retreat, but her back was already against the cavern wall. There was nowhere left to go. Her ears were ringing—whether it was a lingering side effect from the blow to her head or the echo of her own heartbeat, she didn't know.

Hans was too close like this. He was staring at her, staring straight _through_ her, blue eyes sharp and distant despite being just a single foot away. There was a crease near the side of his lips, a permanent mark that marred his near-perfect mask, betraying his near constant displeasure. Was that new? A scar of defeat from her and Elsa? Or had it always been there and she'd just been too blind from puppy love and the soft glow of evening candlelight from her sister's coronation to have ever noticed?

He outstretched his hand, offering up the apple.

Anna looked down at it, then back at him.

"What do you want?" she asked.

This was some kind of new trick. It had to be.

"World domination is going to be _such_ a boring thing if I have to do it alone," Hans said. "Rule with me."

Her eyes widened.

"W-what," Anna said flatly.

"Consider it a payment of interest. After all, you did help me get all the way here… helped me break through the last enchantment. It's only fair that I offer you _some_ form of compensation."

"Fair," she repeated. "Like you've ever cared about the concept of—"

He was baiting her again.

This sudden offer was just one last thing to confuse her, his last attempt at total revenge. It had to be. She could see the way his mind was turning: get poor bound and chained Anna to beg him for table scraps—for an apple of her own—and then, just as quickly as he had offered his own, personal form of twisted salvation, yank it away.

Her chest heaving through deep breaths of anger, Anna straighten her back and drew herself up as tall as possible, closing the distance between the two of them. "Hans," she whispered, forcing him to lean further in hear her words.

Anna paused, taking the moment to study his pretty, perfect face. He was still holding the apple. Its glow radiated upwards from where it rested between their chests, washing both of their faces in soft, golden light. She watched his face, monitoring it for any sort of change…

… and then spat straight in it.

"Over. My. Dead. Body," she hissed.

He inhaled sharply, and Anna flinched despite herself. She steeled herself for the inevitable blow from the back of his hand, but Hans merely wiped the spit from his face and stood. He stepped backwards towards the tree, eyes not leaving Anna's. He remained like that for several, unending seconds, and then he looked down at the apple.

"So be it," he said.

Anna watched his teeth sink into its flesh with a soft crunch.

The apple's inner light flared and then died. It spread to his mouth, shimmering in waves that spread outwards across his face. The glow enveloped his whole skin, sinking underneath it, golden and pure.

Anna struggled to stand despite her lack of balance from the ropes. She teetered forward, trying to do something, _anything_ to stop him before it was too late, and fell. Her left knee hit the stone floor with a sharp crack and she cried out in pain. She managed to twist her head back up as the last of the golden glow was settling into his skin. Hans unwrapped the makeshift bandage she'd tied across his palm—his skin was unmarked. As he twisted his fingers, small flames began to dance across them. Anna sucked back an overwhelming, nauseous feeling of dread.

"I'll never forgive you for this," she said.

He clenched his fingers into a fist and the flames went out. His eyes snapped up to meet hers.

"What. Like you said you'd never forgive me for trying to kill both you and your sister?" He let out a chuckle. "Oh, Anna. We both know how long _that_ kind of a resolution lasts."

Anna's face burned with the sudden the sensation of his lips against hers, soft, even as his stubble had left mild scratches. The warmth that'd tingled its way through her entire body…

"Don't worry," Hans said, his words cutting through the memory and drawing her back to the present. "You won't remember any of this soon."

Anna paused briefly in confusion, ready to protest… and then somehow knew with horror _exactly_ what was coming next. The trolls had stolen her memories once, repackaging new ones in like they'd been nothing more than presents swapped beneath a Christmas tree. She had to remember, _had_ to be able to warn someone.

She scrambled away again, ignoring the flare of pain from her knee, but Hans quickly caught her by the shoulder. She tried to twist out of his grip, struggle and turn, but his hands gripped her with an inhuman, delicate strength. Her panic rocketed as he reached out to either side of her head. Tears sprung from the corners of her eyes.

"No," she said. "You can't do this."

"Tsk. Anna. Anna…" he said in a lilting tone. "I gave you a way out, but you refused to take it."

She continued to shake her head. "Don't. Please don't."

His fingers pressed in deeper against her temples.

"Sssh," Hans whispered, like it was actually something that'd ever comfort her. "I promise this won't hurt one—"

* * *

Anna snapped open her eyes.

She was in the Valley of the Living Rock, lying on her back. The muscles in her shoulders were stiff; they protested as she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Above her, the stars had disappeared, washed out by the approaching grey-blue dawn. A number of trolls—and Kristoff and Sven—were still clustered around her. All asleep.

"Princess Anna?"

Pabbie was on her other side.

"I need to get back to the palace," Anna told him. "I have to tell Elsa that…" The memories rushed back a second time. Her chest constricted, making it hard to breathe, and she spend the next few moments just concentrating on sucking in shallow gasps of air. "This is all my fault," she managed between breaths. "Everything that's been happening: Weideland, Corona. It's all been—"

"Anna!"

Her head swiveled. Kristoff had woken up and was scrambling towards her. He grabbed her hand.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked. "How's your head? Did you remember anything?"

"I'm— I'm fine." Anna looked past him to where Sven and the other trolls were slowly starting to stir as well. "We need to get back to the palace."

"What. Right now? You need rest, Anna. You need to—"

"I've been resting the whole night. I'm fine." Anna turned to Pabbie. "I _am_ okay to go, aren't I?"

"The whole night?" Kristoff said. "Anna, you've been asleep for a _day and half_. You need to get some water back into you. Some food. Some—"

A sudden roar of dread pounded against her ears and drowned out the rest of his words.

She'd been out for an entire day.

Anna shoved her hands against the ground and sprung up onto her feet. As she took her first step, the world itself tilted, and she stumbled, desperate to regain her balance. Her left knee throbbed with a phantom ache.

"Anna!" Kristoff shouted, hands wrapping around to stabilize her. "I said—"

She pushed him away.

"We need to get back to the palace," she repeated, staring straight into his confused eyes. "Now."


	24. Act Three: Part Four

Elsa's hands gripped the sides of her throne, fingers whitening until they matched the tips of her hair. She tried to swallow her silly paranoias, the stray memories of years past… Oddly enough, she had never seen Hans' sword back then, had never heard its swing until after it'd been deflected from Anna's frozen form, but Elsa still woke up in cold sweat from the occasional nightmare all the same.

"Your majesty," a nearby servant prompted.

Right. Everyone else was waiting for her. She reminded herself that everything was going to be okay. General Berg stood at her side, stoic and steady. Soldiers armed with crossbows flanked the left and right walls of her throne room, ten on each side, ready to fire at at a moment's notice.

Elsa nodded stiffly. "Show him in."

The doors to the throne room creaked opened. Eight guards entered—two in the front, four flanking the sides, two closing the gap behind—swords strapped to their waists. In their center stood the red-headed source of all her kingdom's current miseries. Although his wrists were shackled together, his legs, Elsa noted with disdain, had been left untouched.

When the group reached the center of the room, Elsa raised her hand and they stopped.

"Queen Elsa," Hans said smoothly, nodding just the barest of inches.

"Hans," she replied.

"Oh, come now," he said with a smile. "I used your proper title. Surely we can be civil and address one another as equals."

"I _did_ use your proper title."

Hans sighed. "I understand your reluctance to accept me as a legitimate king," he said. "And I truly regret the bad blood that's fallen between us."

Elsa's hands clenched tight around the arms of her throne. "Bad blood," she repeated. "Is _that_ what they're calling attempted murder these days?"

He tried to raise his hands in a wide, conciliatory gesture but was hampered by the shackles. He stared at them, frowning, before looking back up at Elsa. "No one can change the past."

"Most people don't need to," Elsa said, ignoring a small cough from General Berg beside her.

"Well, that sounds like a lie," he said. "Unless you're saying there's nothing in your life that you've ever regretted."

All at once, she was eight years old again. The sight of Anna falling from a crumbling pillar of snow rushed into her mind—the whole next decade of their lives together, snuffed out in a matter of seconds. And if her currently fractured relationship was anything to go by, the damage from that incident was still ongoing. It'd continue to spread its cracks for the rest of their lives.

General Berg cleared his throat. "He's baiting you, your majesty," he whispered.

Elsa swallowed as her cheeks flushed with shame. Even knowing all his usual tricks, she was playing straight into his claws.

"You said you came to negotiate terms of peace?" she said, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice.

"Correct." Hans turned his head as he glanced at his surrounding guards. "Though I can't say the warm welcome I've been receiving has been particularly _conducive_ to such negotiations so far."

"Spare me the complaints," Elsa said. "You know exactly why such measures are required, _and_ you were the one who agreed to them."

"Perhaps… but then again, I'm not the one holding the other hostage right now. I'm not the one who declared war. So maybe our roles aren't so black and white after all."

Elsa inhaled sharply. The guards around Hans shifted their weight, used to sensing sudden snaps of chill in the air and knowing what usually followed.

"Arendelle only declared war _after_ you intentionally broke apart the Northern alliance," she said, fighting the clawing urge to stand, to face him directly and show him the full force of her powers. "We declared war_ after_ you started conquering the kingdoms that'd vowed to forever remain independent."

"Your majesty," Hans said, eyes wide as he let the 'shock' of the accusation drip through his voice. "Your trade coalition was formed as an economic attack against me. And I didn't conquer anyone. Those kingdoms asked for my aid. They begged me. You could even say it was my Christian _duty_ to assist them."

There was no other explanation—he was intentionally trying to make her retch out of pure, unadulterated disgust.

"No one manages to climb into power like you have by the sheer power of their benevolent heart," Elsa said cooly.

"No," Hans admitted. "They tend to be born into it. Which I suppose is that much better."

General Berg cleared his throat again, sharp and insistent.

"It's not better," Elsa said, ignoring her advisor for at least one final strike. "But as far as I can see, the only current alternative is murdering your way to the top."

Hans' eyes narrowed. "Is that an accusation?"

"It's a statement of fact."

Hans shifted, the corners of his mouth tugging into an irritated frown. "For someone who claimed to be open to the idea peace, you're being exceptionally hostile," he said. "In light these horrible allegations, it wouldn't be to rescind my offer of truce and… resume other courses of action."

"Your majesty," General Berg whispered. "Please think of—"

"Was that your excuse when you conquered all those other countries?" Elsa asked. "Imaginary attacks to your pride?"

"No," Hans replied. "It was a statement of fact."

Even as his face remained blank, there was a gleam in his eye. The left corner of his lips quirked up in a nearly imperceptible way; perhaps she was just imagining it. The throne room cracked open beneath her and Elsa felt herself teetering towards the edge of a precipice—every word from him a puff of wind that pushed her closer and closer. Berg was whispering directly into her ear now, urgently warning her to stop antagonizing the king and discuss whatever treaty he'd come here to propose.

And then she knew.

She knew that Hans hadn't changed one bit from the conniving young prince who'd waltzed into her kingdom all those years ago, who'd almost been served the whole thing on a china platter. She knew that she could sign whatever document of peace they ultimately agreed upon, that she could follow it to the letter, and that he'd _still_ find a way to return his army to her doorstep before the year was out.

Any posturing and bargaining was useless and, more importantly, a waste of time while he put other hidden pieces into action.

She had to move to their fallback plan. Now.

Elsa stood. "Hans of House Westergaard," she announced, ignoring the sudden panic in General Berg's face. "I'm arresting you on behalf of treason against the royal family of Weideland—for the murder of Crown Princess Josephine and her father, King Henri.

The guards' hands clamped down around Hans' upper arms. A small frisson of joy shot through her at the way he flinched and his eyes widened in shock.

"I promised you _peace_," he growled at her.

"You've promised a lot of things to a lot of people," Elsa said. "Unfortunately most of them can't be here to vouch for you. By some strange coincidence, they also happen to be dead." She nodded at the leader of the guards. "Take him away."

"Your majesty!" General Berg whispered. "I thought we'd agreed to do this only as a last resort! If he posed a threat!"

Elsa spun to face her advisor. "Look around," she snapped. "We're _already_ under threat. If you think he'd ever actually uphold anything we—"

"And to think I'd been hoping I wouldn't have to resort to violence," Hans said with a dismissive sigh.

The chill only had time to run halfway up her spine before she caught the flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. Elsa turned, to see Hans already free of his shackles. Two of his eight guards lay crumpled on the ground. As a third drew his sword, Hans kicked him in the stomach and he fell.

"Restrain him!" Elsa commanded, trying to squash the panic rising in the back of her throat.

It was fine. Even free, he was still outnumbered. Arendelle still had the upper hand. As the guards at the center of the room struggled to immobilize him, the soldiers lining the walls stepped forward with their crossbows. They wouldn't shoot until she gave the direct order.

She didn't want to the give it. Not yet.

She didn't want to sink to his level.

As Hans sent a fourth man tumbling to the floor, Elsa sent out a blast of ice. Without so much as a flinch, Hans grabbed the sleeves of the nearest guard and spun him. The magic struck his back, encasing him in a frozen sheet as Hans stepped harmlessly out of the way.

Elsa sensed movement from the sides of the room; several men had raise their weapons.

"Don't shoot!" she commanded. "You'll hurt our own men!"

As the last word left her mouth, Elsa heard a high whistling pierce the air. She braced herself, expecting in horror to see it plunge towards the group at the center of the room, but the sound drew closer—

To her.

Elsa flinched, screwing her eyes shut as a wall of ice flung up subconsciously to protect her. She opened them to see a point of steel hanging two inches from her face. Its shaft was embedded through the ice, had been barely caught by its tail feathers. A different set of memories rushed back—her palace of ice, illuminated by the yellow tipped dawn as adrenaline spiked through her.

"I- I…" came the sound of a young voice, cracked and stuttering.

Elsa looked beyond her defensive wall to see a junior guard trembling. He stared in disbelief at his empty crossbow that was pointed directly at her. More movement caught her eye. Left and right, other soldiers were slowly turning their loaded weapons towards her, hands and limbs shaking, like they were being pulled by an unseen force…

Hans.

Elsa snapped her head back towards the center of the room. He was standing casually, seven guards lying crumpled by his feet while the eight still hung, trapped in her ice. He held one of their sheathed swords with both hands and kept his eyes locked with hers as he slowly withdrew it.

She inhaled sharply.

For her to have been such a stupid, gullible— Stone or not, he'd smuggled _something_ magical into the palace with him.

Two more arrows whistled towards her. Elsa blocked them with another wall, trying regroup her thoughts. A flash of silver caught her eye. Hans was rushing forward, closing the gap.

She tried to freeze him with another stream of ice, but he dodged it with a quick side-step, drawing even closer.

"Your majesty!" a voice choked out.

A split second warning before a third volley of arrows. She winced as she spun towards the source of the voice, forcing herself to freeze three of her soldiers directly to the wall. And then Hans was in right front of her—

She threw up a hasty ice shield. His sword crashed against it, sending up a spray of frost, before breaking through with a crash of ice and steel. Elsa narrowly dodged out of its path as it swung down towards the floor.

"What have you done to them?!" she snarled.

Hans only smirked before lifting his sword to strike again.

He had played her, corrupting her assumed advantages into his own. For each arrow she dodged from her own soldiers, another was reloaded. She dodged and weaved, defending herself against both arrow and soldier and Hans' relentless attacks. She breathed heavily. If she could just hit _him_, then whatever dark magic he'd managed to cast over her people would be broken.

Elsa cried out as an arrow grazed the side of her arm, leaving a bright smear of red.

She flinched, covering it with her fingertips, and that was all it took for Hans to move in for the kill. His sword swung forward. There was no time—

Elsa let out a primal scream, shutting her eyes as she desperately pulled from deep within her—deep, deep down past the palace floors and dungeons and into the cold heart of the earth itself—and then threw all of it forward. It left her limbs shaking and chest tingling with the aftershock. She kept her eyes closed, afraid of what she'd see once she opened them. Her head continued to spin, dizzy from the sheer force of the magic that she'd just ripped through her. Her breath came in heavy pants, still tense, still ready to stop any other stray arrows.

Nothing came.

The throne room was dead silent.

Elsa slowly cracked open one eye. Then the other.

Most of the walls were already coated in a thin icy layer, her guards trapped helpless behind them—a remnant from the earlier battling. Directly in front of her—dwarfing everything else—rose a massive, spike-filled burst of ice. Its jagged edges extended halfway towards the room's ceiling, climbing and climbing like the one of them legendary dragons of old. Its spikes were pinning Hans' slumped body against the wall.

No, Elsa realized with a drop of her stomach. It was doing more than pin.

One massive icicle had pushed its way straight through his chest.

Elsa stared at his body, still breathing heavily. She'd just taken a life. She'd just killed someone with her magic. That is, she'd done it before—those sailors in the fjord—but that'd been indirect. She'd simply taken the ice from beneath their feet. The water was the one that'd killed them. It hadn't been—

She paused, breath catching in her throat.

There wasn't any blood.

His hand twitched—a twitch of movement from what should've been a corpse.

Ice crawled up Elsa's spine, freezing the conscious part of her mind, trapping and squeezing her lungs to nothing as Hans slowly lifted his head from where it'd been resting, lifeless, against his chest. He looked down at the spear of ice piercing his chest.

"Oh," he said, sounding like someone commenting on nothing more than a dull bit of weather. "I've been impaled."

Elsa stared at him in horror. She stepped backwards slowly, nearly tripping over the guards that were still lying in a crumpled pile on the floor. Even as she managed to steady herself, her knees shook.

A loud bang echoed behind her and her heart momentarily stopped.

"Elsa!"

That voice—

Elsa turned. Anna and Kristoff were both standing at the back of the throne room, its doors thrown wide open. They were staring straight past her, straight at Hans. Elsa tried to say something, to warn them to get away, but the sounds were stuck in her throat. She watched Anna rush forward and clamp both of her small, gloved hands around her own.

"He's immortal now!" Anna said. "We have to run!"

Elsa tried to argue. She couldn't just leave Hans in the throne room—her throne room—and run. She'd be abandoning the throne itself. She'd be abandoning _Arendelle_. But she'd already been dragged out into the eastern hallways by the time her head manage to string more than two words of coherent thought together.

"Anna, I can't—"

A thunderous boom shook the palace around them. They all froze.

"What was that?" Kristoff asked.

Anna let go of Elsa's hand and ran to the nearest window; her fingers gripped tightly against the sill as she stared out in silence. Elsa joined her, not entirely sure of what she was doing or why.

What'd just happened back in the throne room, it'd been a dream. Or an illusion. Or… or somethi—

Her thoughts, trapped beneath a swirling winter fog, shattered back into horrific clarity.

The ice that had enclosed the fjord—that had protected them from the world beyond—had completely melted. A fleet of foreign ships lay in Arendelle's harbor, packed so tightly that their masts rose up together like a crude, avalanched-stripped forest. Their port sides faced the palace, row after row of black iron lined their decks.

Canons.

"Duck!" a voice shouted.

It wasn't until she was tackling Anna to the floor that Elsa realized it'd been her own.

The blast hit somewhere above them. Bits of plaster fell from the ceiling, pattering against the top of her head. There were screams in the distance. Elsa took a deep breath and then began to help her sister back up.

"We have to abandon the city," Kristoff suddenly said.

"What," Elsa said.

Anna groaned. "It's all my fault," she muttered into her hands. "If we'd gotten here sooner… If I'd _remembered_ sooner…"

"Remembered?" Elsa repeated. "What— Wait, no. This is—You mean that apple dream of yours is related to all of this? To—"

She jumped at a sudden touch to her back; Kristoff was herding both of them forward with his arms.

"Guys, you might not have noticed, but we're kind of under attack," he said. "Escape first. Crazy god explanations later."

Elsa stared at him.

"God?!"

The castle shook again with the force of a second impact, and Kristoff shoved both of them forward into a run.

"Wait," Elsa said, stopping the others at the next intersection. "If you really want to escape, you should use the east wing tunnels."

Anna shook her head. "Hans, knows about those."

"What. How?"

"Well, you see, I…" She swallowed, gloved hands twisting together. "I kind of showed them to him during your coronation party way back when?"

"You _what_?!"

"I know, I know! But you don't understand. There was just this gorgeous waterfall along the fjord that I really _really_ wanted to show him."

"You let someone know one of our palace's greatest secrets for a _waterfall_?!"

"Um, guys?" Kristoff said. "The attack?"

"Anna, how could you be so stupid?"

"It's okay," her sister said with an irritatingly naive half-smile and a shrug. "We can just use the southern tunnels."

"The southern tunnels are on the opposite side of the palace!" Elsa said.

"Oh, come on. They're not on the_ opposite_ side—"

"Anna, he has the power to turn the whole palace against us! Our own soldiers shot at me, tried to kill me, because of _him_! You've compromised a possible escape route, maybe our only escape route, and you're arguing about semantics?!" Elsa groaned. "Everything you've done has put all of us in danger! Over and over, I've _warned_ you that trusting him puts us in danger! You're going to get us all killed and it's all because you just don't _think_, Anna!"

Anna's smile vanished. Her lip trembled.

"You think I don't know that?" she suddenly snapped, stepping into Elsa's personal space. "You don't think that if I had the power to go back in time and change every single _stupid_ little thing I've ever done, I wouldn't? I wish I could. _God_, I wish I could. But I can't! So we can either keep standing around, arguing about whose fault this really is while waiting to get captured, or we can—"

The corridor exploded.

Elsa was knocked backwards to the floor in a splintered mess of ceiling plaster and wood. The world spun around her, mixing up with down. She had to wait for it to stabilize enough before she could attempt to regain her feet. She blinked and then blinked again—everything was still a blur of shapes and shades. Her ears rang, all sound drowned out by a high tinned pitch. A muffled voice was calling someone's name in the distance. Kristoff's voice.

"Anna!" he yelled.

Everything snapped back into focus. Heart racing, Elsa pushed herself the rest of the way up and suddenly teetered—the blood had rushed from her head too quickly. Nearby Kristoff knelt by Anna's side; a large pile of rubble had fallen behind her, pinning her leg.

Elsa's face whitened.

"Anna!" she shouted, rushing to her sister's side.

She jammed her fingers beneath the largest plank of wood with Kristoff and heaved. They ignored the fainter rumblings from other parts of the castle getting bombarded—perhaps the town itself was under attack now—as they slowly lifted the heavy beam. Others from the pile started rolling forward to take its place. Elsa screamed at them and they froze into one, immobile clump.

Anna, now free, slumped forward into their arms, breathing heavily.

"How's your…?" Kristoff began to ask. He cut himself off with a tense swallow.

Anna's leg was bleeding. Heavily.

Anna followed his gaze, stared at it a moment, then looked back up at the two of them. "You have to keep going," she said calmly. "Leave me behind."

Elsa stared at her. "What?" she said. "No! That's ridiculous, Anna! We're not—"

"You're the only one who's any possible threat to Hans now," Anna said. "He hates you. If he captures you, he'll _kill_ you."

"He'll kill _me_? What about you?" she demanded. "He could kill you too."

"No one's getting left behind," Kristoff said, already tearing off his outer coat. "If we can just wrap it up, stop the bleeding… Elsa, can your magic do anything?"

"N-no, the frostbite…" Elsa wrung her hands together. "I think it'd just end up making things worse."

"Alright, then help me with this—"

"Stop!" Anna yelled. "Just both of you, stop! Even if you got me out of the palace without bleeding to death, Hans controls the fjords now. We'd have to escape over one of the passes. I…" She closed her eyes. "I'd never make it."

"But we can't just _leave_ y—"

Elsa flinched as another cannonball hit nearby. Her heart thudded as the pile of rubble behind them shook, but it remained held in place by her ice.

"Yes, you can!" Anna snapped through labored breath. She tried to push away Kristoff away as he wrapped his coat around her leg, but her hands only moved in half-hearted swats. "He won't kill me. Not… not while…" She hissed as Kristoff tied the ends of the sleeves together. "Not while I'm a valuable bargaining chip for him to get to you."

"Anna!" Olaf's voice suddenly called in the distance. "Kristoff!"

Kristoff bit out a curse. "We left him with Sven," he explained to Elsa. "Told him to come find us if there was an emergency."

Anna nodded. "Go," she said.

Elsa's hands trembled. Her brain knew that running was the logical thing to do. She'd flee her kingdom for now, then regroup and recover before coming back to fight another day. But she refused to do that. Refused to leave her sister bleeding out on the palace floors.

"What if we only took you with us part of the way?" Kristoff said. "Hans doesn't know about the valley. We can leave you with my family, and they should have some medicinal—"

"You there!" barked a man's voice. "Halt!"

Elsa whirled around. Seven of Weideland's soldiers were standing at the end of the hallway, armed with a mix of swords and crossbows.

"Leave me!" Anna yelled. "Run!"

"But…" Elsa said.

Her thoughts scattered as one of the soldiers lifted his crossbow and fired. Elsa was tackled out of its path by Kristoff, then dragged back up onto her feet into a run. They'd already made the turn into the next hallway before she realized that Anna wasn't with them.

"What are you _doing_?!" Elsa ripped her hand from his. "We can't just leave her. They'll kill her!"

Kristoff took a deep breath. "Anna was right. You're the one they really want." He tried to grab Elsa's hand again, but she clutched it tight to her chest. "As long as you manage to escape, they shouldn't harm her. She's too valuable."

"Valuable?" Elsa said in disbelief. "Anna's not an object."

"I never said she was— Shit!"

An arrow flew past them as four of the soldiers rounded the corner in chase. Kristoff took advantage of Elsa shock's to seize her hand and take off again.

"Anna needs medical attention," he said puffs of breath. "Now that they've found her, they'll give it to her."

"You don't know that!"

"Look, she…" He paused at an intersection. "Where's that escape tunnel you were talking about?"

Finally able to catch her breath, Elsa turned and summoned an ice wall to seal them off from the hallway behind them. "I am _not_ leaving without Anna," she said, tearing welled at the corners of her eyes. They burned against her skin.

"We already did!" Kristoff snapped.

"No, _you_ did! You left her behind and then dragged me off with you!"

Kristoff groaned, running his hands down his face. "You want to go back there?" he said. "Fine. The soldiers already have her which means Hans already has her, and unless you've come up with a way of defeating the latest god of chaos and evil that's more effective than stabbing him through the heart–"

Elsa let out a scoff of disbelief. "Hans isn't a god. People don't just _become_ gods."

"Then how do explain what just happened back there in the throne room?"

"I…"

"You stabbed him in the heart, Elsa. Anna and I both saw it. And he just laughed it off."

"Maybe I missed," she said, straining to believe her own words. "I had to have missed. There was probably some trick of the light that confused—"

There was a loud thud—the soldiers had reached her ice wall and were trying to smash their way through. Elsa inhaled slowly. They'd never break through; she could simply strengthen it when they got close enough… and then strengthen it again and again… but if the Weideland soldiers had gotten this far into the palace, they'd find another way around. She have to put up another wall, and then another wall, and then eventually she'd just be trapping herself in a cage.

Kristoff grabbed both of her hands, forcing her to look at him. "If we want to save Anna, we've going to have to find a way to defeat Hans."

"A way to defeat a god," Elsa clarified.

Kristoff closed his eyes and then nodded.

Elsa swallowed. "Is that even possible?"

"There's only way to find out."

An even louder thud echoed through the hallway, followed by the sound of a crack splintering across the ice. Elsa forced herself to keep breathing. If she left now—if she abandoned her palace, her kingdom, her sister—she'd never be able to forgive herself for the rest of her life. But at the same time, if there was a way to fix all this by running, if there was a chance—even the tiniest of ones—and Elsa didn't take it, if she stayed and fought like Hans obviously wanted her to, if she got herself captured too… got herself killed…

Elsa screwed her eyes shut, ignoring the way her heart seemed to be skipping every other beat now, and nodded grimly. With a small wrist flick, she strengthened the temporary barrier behind them. It'd give them some extra time, something increasingly in short supply. Then, taking Kristoff's hand in hers, she began to head towards the southern escape tunnels.

* * *

Anna fought to keep upright. She sat on the floor of the destroyed hallway, her back pressed up against the wall. Two soldiers stood guard over her, their crossbows pointing straight down at her chest.

She should've been scared. She should've been terrified.

Instead, all she felt was a dull sensation of being scraped thin, like a tiny dollop of jam over her morning toast: the stress and chaos of the last twenty-four hours was finally pulling her apart. Her crushed leg only added to the experience, the injury bypassing all her usual pain circuits and fueling the dizzy tumble in her head.

"So what now?" Anna asked, cracking a half-crazed smile.

The soldiers' expressions didn't change. The taller one tightened his grip around his crossbow as if she'd just issued some kind of veiled threat instead of some stupid icebreaker. Then again, if they were Hans' men, who knew what kind of weird, mixed signals they'd been having to deal with.

Anna couldn't feel her leg anymore. She didn't know if it that was part of the shock and adrenaline protecting her or if she'd finally just lost _that_ much blood. Kristoff's coat, brown to begin with, was stained an even darker mahogany… or ebony… or whatever that weird mixture of brown and dark red came out to be.

She slumped forward, poking at the coarse fabric.

"Back against the wall!" the taller soldier barked.

Anna wanted to laugh but her lungs didn't seem to have the energy. She focused on breathing out and in.

The shorter soldier was alternating between staring at her and stealing glances at what Anna was now guessing to be the commanding officer of the two. His mouth kept twitching like he was trying to keep it pressed together. Like he was trying to stay emotionless. A sudden spark flared through her.

Anna could use that.

She winced again and renewed her examination of her leg, careful to keep any actual pressure off it.

"I thought I said back up!" the commanding solider said.

"What exactly do you think I'm going to do?" Anna bit out. "Bleed on you?"

"Maybe we should be nicer to her," the shorter soldier ventured. "I mean, she _does_ look pretty bad."

"Oh, because being 'nice' is going to magically heal her wounds," the other said. "We already sent Gareth to fetch a doctor. It's too risky to move her… so what do you propose we do?"

"Yeah, but what if you-know-who blames us for… well, her condition…"

Anna stared up at them. They'd pretty much just implied that Hans wanted her unharmed. Well, a somewhat liberal definition of unharmed at the very least. The thought was mildly… comforting, but it didn't change her next plan of action in the slightest. Even with her leg, she couldn't just let herself stay here, get passively capture by the man who'd ripped open her heart and betrayed her.

Twice.

Anna was at level with the soldiers' knees. If she could just wait for them to get a _bit_ more distracted…

"Worse comes to worse, we'll blame any other injuries on this castle that's half-falling apart. He'll never know the difference."

"Maybe… but she's a princess."

"Princess, hah! What does that have to do with—?"

The two braced themselves as another cannonball struck a distant part of the palace, sending slight tremors through the floor.

Her chance.

Anna flung herself forward, tackling the legs of the commanding soldier while biting back the sudden scream of pain from her leg. He crashed to the floor and his crossbow tumbled into reach. Anna's hands fumbled around it before gripping firm. She pointed it at the two men as she crawled out of their grasps, and then clumsily pushed herself back up onto her one good foot. The soldier she'd knocked down stayed down; the other just stared back in confusion.

She kept them in her sights as she hugged the wall, keeping most of her body weight leaned against it while she hobbled backwards, slow step by single step.

"Really?" came the sudden, awful sound of a voice behind her—the last she wanted to hear. "Two trained men taken hostage by an invalid? Pathetic."

Anna spun around. She wanted to shove the crossbow point straight into his chest and slam back the trigger, wanted to show him just how 'pathetic' she was, but the suddenness of the movement was all wrong. The bone in her leg cracked further apart. She took in a ragged gasp of pain. Her good leg buckled beneath her and she was falling, the world dipping black before she even managed to hit the floor.

* * *

**A/N: Welp. That was one of the most challenging chapters I've ever written. Hope all the stuff I jammed in makes up for the rather long wait. (Sorry about that!) Next chapter should be more on schedule... though it's also going to be the last chapter in Act Three and the last chapter before my winter hiatus.**

**Also, author fun fact: the final scene of this involved me crawling and hopping around my apartment with a heavy object in one hand to make sure that Anna could actually do the things I wanted her to do with only one good leg and free arm/hand. Yay, writer challenges.**

**Also also, misappropriating that Olaf quote might've been 40% of the inspiration for this entire fic.**


	25. Act Three: Part Five

Anna's eyes snapped open.

She was lying in her bed, the room empty, covers drawn up close to her neck. Her left leg ached with only the echo of a throb.

Perhaps it'd only been a bad dream. Anna briefly shut her eyes and_ prayed_ that it'd only been one bad, totally messed-up dream—that every terrible thing since her golden apple tree nightmare had just been extension of it. A product of her overactive imagination.

No immediate answer came.

Anna slowly pushed her blankets away, expecting a mess of bandages and blood, but all that greeted her was her own, unstained powder-blue nightdress. She pulled it up and revealed nothing more than a bare, unmarked leg. Anna ran her hands down its length, confirming that it was all still there in one piece, and then swung both her legs over the side of her bed. There was a bit of wobblyness on her left side, a seeping soreness in the muscles like she'd gotten sometimes the morning after a long run, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Ordinary.

She shoved that disconcerting feeling into the back of her head as she padded her way across the cold, palace floors. Her desk was bare; she couldn't remember if she'd left the apple there or not.

Anna didn't know exactly what she was expecting, but as she reached the nearest window and pulled aside the curtain, she gasped all the same.

Her sister's ice had completely vanished from the harbor, replaced by an armada of war ships. War ships that Arendelle had spent the last several months fighting to keep out.

All of it had been real.

All of it had been real and she was trapped here and she—

There was a creak from her bedroom door.

Anna froze. Her fingers gripped the window sill, and now—removed from the threat of crossbows and the pain and the pounding adrenaline of it all—she _was_ scared.

"You're awake," Hans said.

That was it. No apologies, no gloating, no demands, no metaphorical twirl of the mustache… just one obvious statement of physical observation.

Anna kept quiet, her eyes locked on the ships outside, knowing that he was waiting for her response. He _wanted_ her to say something, he _wanted_ something he could twist to use against her.

"You told your sister I was immortal," he continued. "You barely paused to stare at what she'd done to me, her ice piercing straight through my chest. You just grabbed her hand and ran." He paused, and the silence draped over her bedroom like suffocating, tooth-rotting honey. "Which means you remember."

There was a phantom crack in her knee as she remembered falling against the cave floor, as she remembered the way he'd leant forward, holding out the glittering apple…

Anna swallowed, forcing the memories back. She kept her gaze straight as she focused on a tiny point, distant on the horizon. "You healed my leg?" she asked.

He didn't immediately respond.

"I didn't want you fainting on me again," was his eventual explanation.

Anna took a deep breath. "So you can wipe memories, heal wounds, melt my sister's ice… oh, and you can't die," she said. "Any other important powers I'm missing?"

"If this is your grand strategy to discover any secret weaknesses, it's an extremely pathetic one," Hans drawled. "I expected better from you."

"Oh, so you have expectations now?" Anna said before she could stop herself. "That's new. And here I thought I was useless at everything in your eyes."

Hans sighed. "Or play the self-pity game. That works too."

Anna bit down on her lower lip, trying not to let her temper snap. She failed.

She spun around, keeping her fists balled tight at her sides.

Hans was standing in her doorframe, wearing a jacket of deep, velvet blue trimmed with gold. A matching crown rested atop his perfectly trimmed hair. He leaned casually against the painted wood, as if invisibly barricaded from her room proper like some kind of ginger vampire. Before her heart could put any hope into that theory, he took a step forward and outstretched his arms.

"I never wanted any of this to happen," he said with just a tinge of sorrow.

Fake sorrow.

Anna narrowed her eyes. "Really."

"Believe it or not, I prefer my transfers of power to be as bloodless as possible. It's what's best for the realm."

The wisp of a metallic shing echoed in her memory and Anna was back on the fjord, two days after her sister's coronation, watching his sword descend in a terrible arc—

"What's best for the realm…" Anna repeated. "So conjuring that blizzard and killing thousands of people is your definition of bloodless?"

Hans took a deep breath. "So you remember that too."

Anna crossed her arms, waiting for him to give her an actual response.

"They were…" Hans' lips twisted, apparently struggling for right words. "…an unfortunate sacrifice."

Anna let out a scoff of disbelief.

Horror crashed over with rage until she was drowning in it. God-like powers or not, Anna couldn't stand another minute in his presence. Despite verging back into "stupid decision" territory, she crossed her room, trying to storm out the door. Hans blocked her.

Obviously.

"Let me go," she demanded.

"I can't do that."

"Why not?" she asked, despite already knowing the answer. "You let the Prince Frederick of Wallonia do whatever _he_ wanted after you conquered his kingdom."

"Prince Frederick," he said, shifting his body as she tried to dart around him, "didn't have a vengeful, fugitive sister with magic powers out only God knows where."

Anna paused and glanced up, meeting his eyes. He couldn't have just admitted…

"You mean she—?"

"Escaped? Yes. Of course…" Hans added, as her face flickered in doubt, "I could be lying. I could be filling your heart with false hope while she rots in some dungeon." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter _what_ I say, you'll never believe me."

Anna tried studying his face for any semblance or hint of truth, but it was infuriatingly blank. Then, the corners of his lips twitched up into a smirk, and suddenly it was taking all she had to keep herself from slamming her fist into his perfect nose. With his new god-like powers, he'd shrug the injury off, leaving her hand as the only thing in pain.

Sometimes, despite the blow to her pride, it was better to retreat.

At least for now.

Anna moved back into the center of her room, grabbed the chair by her desk, spun it around to face him, and plopped down.

"So," she said, crossing her legs.

Hans leaned back against the wall. "So."

"There never was any stone."

Hans glanced up towards the ceiling like he had to seriously think about her statement. "No," he finally said. "Well, there was _a_ stone. A perfectly ordinary stone that I scraped off the ground while faking the evidence of a sudden earthquake. I did it up a bit, of course—a sparkly bit of child's play considering the full depth of the magic I'd just gained." He took a moment to chuckle. "And you were so obsessed that I didn't touch it that you actually _carried_ the damn thing all the way back down the mountain. About how heavy was it again? Ten pounds? Twenty?"

Anna stayed silent beneath the jabs of his mockery.

"Oh, then everyone else was just obsessed with it too," he continued. "Did you know, when Corona fell to me, the first thing they did was bundle the stone away? As long as it didn't fall into my hands, they believed they still had hope. They believed your sister would have to power to stop me.

"I let them believe. Call it one of my smaller mercies… or tortures. I guess it all depends on your personal brand of philosophy. Of course, even that grew increasingly tedious. I stopped bothering with the illusion about a week ago, curious, I guess for whatever changes it would bring. That and I hoped it'd help finally flush out the remaining rebels."

Anna swallowed, the movement painful against the rest of her stiff body. Her thoughts raced to Rapunzel and Eugene. She wanted to ask Hans about them, wanted to hear that they were still safe, but to ask now would link their names straight to any rebellion, probably just as he hoped…

Oh, who was she kidding? Their names were probably already at the top of any rebellion list he had, regardless of whatever input she gave now.

"Unfortunately, the move was less exciting than I'd hoped," Hans admitted. "I received no messages from my spies, no reports of altered behavior." He smiled again, slow and predatory. "You on the other hand… Did Corona manage to get some kind of warning to you? Did they think that someone had _stolen_ it?"

Anna refused to give Hans the satisfaction of knowing just how much Rapunzel's note had torn at her and her sister. Instead, she thought back to the secret cavern where she and Hans had originally discovered the stone, the cavern of the golden tree. Only there'd hadn't been a tree that first—second?—time, just the stone and the equally-rough pedestal it'd been resting on…

"What happened to the tree?" Anna asked.

Hans snorted. "What? Hoping to send your sister out there? Give her the same gifts it gave me? Well, I already thought about that possible future." He raised a hand in front of his face. As he flexed his fingers, a small flame jumped into life and began to dance between them. Anna flinched, but Hans didn't seem to notice. "And I took the measures I needed to prevent it."

Anna stared at him, frowning in confusion, and then her eyes snapped wide.

Their footprints in the snow… The ash on the bottom of her boots…

"You burnt it?" she breathed, the words coming out at barely a whisper. Her heart clenched at the loss of something that old… that unearthly beautiful.

Hans closed his fist and looked directly at Anna. "I wasn't going to let myself become part of a pantheon."

A biting chill slid up her back and she had to force herself to keep eye contact with him. Anna firmly told herself that if he'd really wanted her dead, he would've done it ages ago. He would've murdered her on the way back from the cave. He wouldn't have healed her leg, instead letting it bleed out and out and out…

She uncrossed her legs, placing both feet firmly on the floor.

"If you've had these powers this whole time, why didn't you just conquer the world outright?" she asked. "We could've sent all of our armies against you at the same time and we still wouldn't have been able to stop you."

Hans sighed. "Oh Anna… as much as I appreciate the compliment, that's where you fail to understand. Like I said, I never wanted any of this to happen." He swept his hand in a wide arc, seemingly at the furnishings of her bedroom, but Anna knew it was directed towards the ships and soldiers and general chaos outside. "Only an idiot wants to be a conquerer, to toss and turn sleepless in the dark, surrounded by nightmares of which lingering loyalists are waiting to stab them in the back."

"Funny," Anna bit out. "I wouldn't have thought the threat of stabbing was such a pressing concern for you anymore."

Hans grinned, and Anna immediately regretted speaking. She was letting herself get pulled back into their old, easily flowing campfire banter—nasty on the surface but cleansed by a somewhat light-hearted current underneath. Hans didn't deserve even a speck of light from her. Not anymore.

At the same time, Anna's only other effective option was silence, and—as always—she didn't know if she was even _capable_ of maintaining that. Especially not while she still wanted answers.

"The point is," Hans said. "I want citizens who love me… Or at least citizens who don't cower at the sight of me like I'm the latest incarnation of the devil."

He paused as if waiting on another snarky response.

"And in that I think I've been successful," he continued as though there hadn't been the slightest gap between the two sentences. "You saw them at the wedding, didn't you? The way all the courtiers practically flocked to my side, desperate to catch my eye. I am… their _radiant_ sun."

"Only because they don't know about the foul, black shadow skulking underneath," Anna blurted out before mentally slapping herself.

Hans waved his hand dismissively. "A minor thing, really. Especially when compared to my other virtues."

"Virtues."

"Sure. I'm rich, I'm handsome, I rule ten separate kingdoms…" He glanced up, counting fingers on one hand. "Or I suppose, eleven, now that Arendelle's been added to mix." He looked at Anna. "You _will_ tell my new subjects to submit peacefully, won't you? Like I said, I hate unnecessary bloodshed."

Anna started, her mind still trapped back on his earlier words, staggered at just how far Hans had been able to claw his way through society. In every kingdom but Arendelle, he'd managed to paint himself as the victim, as a savior. He basked in their saintly perceptions of him like some kind of mountain stream that had the power to wash all the nastiness of his actual soul away.

If that happened, she thought, would there even be anything left?

She tried to remember the number of people that had surrounded him at Frederick's wedding. It'd been a massive crowd, men pressing together as well as women. There'd been old and young, married and unmarried…

Anna took a deep breath. "What did you do to Princess Josephine?" she asked. "The truth."

"Do?" Hans said, scoffing. "I didn't _do_ anything."

"If you honestly expect me to believe for one second that she died of natural causes after everything you just admitted—"

"She did die of natural causes though," he said, and his voice was so full of conviction that, for a moment, Anna almost considered the poss— "Drowning is a natural cause. It's as natural as freezing to death, starvation,"—his head tilted left and right as he listed each cause—"the plague…"

Anna's stomach flipped. She couldn't remember eating any food in the past couples days, but it threatened to come up all the same. She crumpled in her chair, burying her face in her hands.

"We were on the same ship," Hans continued as though nothing was wrong, "caught out at sea in the same storm… It's not my fault she didn't have the abilities in her to survive a full week out there, exposed to the cold and the salt and the wind."

Tears were welling in Anna's eyes, blurring what was left of her vision, and despite screaming at herself to not let herself cry in front of him, she didn't have the power to stop them.

There was something wrong with Hans.

Something fundamentally _wrong_.

The worst part was that she'd known it was coming and she'd still denied it. Even as she'd raced back to Arendelle with Kristoff and Sven, desperate to warn her sister; even as she'd remembered Hans' confession in the cave about the blizzard, the blizzard _he _had caused; even knowing the further chaos he'd be able to create now as a… as a… as someone with god-like powers, there'd still been a tiny, stupid—_so stupid_—part of her that had clung to the naive possibility that at least _some _of the disasters of the past two years had been plain cruel chance.

He wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.

Said the man who'd carelessly slaughtered thousands.

But hey. Apparently that was all okay in his book because people had to actually _know_ about his crimes for them to actually matter, and no one did.

No one but her.

Anna's breath caught. The room was silent.

"What if I refuse?" she asked quietly, not looking up from her hands.

"Refuse what?"

"What if I refuse to play this game of yours?" she lifted her head, painfully conscious of the puffy redness that must've ringed her eyes. "What if I refuse to help Arendelle bend its knee?"

Hans didn't look half as perturbed as she would've hoped. "It'd be regrettable," he admitted. "But nothing I wouldn't be able to work around."

"So, that means what? You'll lock me up in the palace? Toss me in the dungeons?"

"Dungeons?" he said with a small laugh. "Anna, I'm not _that_ heartless. A general palace house-arrest will be more than suitable—well…" A shiver ran up her spine at the way he dragged the syllable out. "Obviously, it wouldn't necessarily be _this_ palace."

Anna stared at him, fighting to keep her breaths steady and even.

"Come on, Anna. You didn't think I'd be stupid as that, did you?" Hans shook his head as he pushed himself off the wall. "You've spent the majority of your life here. You know each room, each and every hidden corridor." His eyes flicked towards the surrounding walls, and he frowned. "You have friends here—helpful, irritating hands begging to scratch their way out of the stonework… No, you'll be coming back to Weideland with me."

"As your hostage," Anna spat out.

"Hostage? Oh, nothing that crude." He held out his arms in a welcoming gesture. "You'd be my esteemed guest."

Anna glared back; it was an appalling cliché line, even for someone like him.

"You see, Anna… _you_," Hans continued airily, like she was somehow enraptured instead of disgusted by his every word, "are going to be the key that unlocks the glorious united future of our two kingdoms."

He extended one of his hands towards her, palm up, smiling like he _actually _expected her to take it. Like he expected her to agree to even a single step of his twisted dance after everything he'd just done to her. To her sister. To her kingdom.

To the world.

Anna stood and approached him, keeping her hands clasped tightly together within the folds of her dress to avoid even the smallest chance of them brushing against his own.

"I think I've already given you my answer regarding that," she managed to say calmly. "And since you don't seem to remember, I guess I'll just have to repeat it."

His face betrayed nothing of whatever emotions lurked underneath, assuming he actually had any. His eyes remained clear but hard. Anna leaned in closer and closer until she risked feeling his breath hot against her face.

And paused.

"Over my dead body," she whispered.

They remained like statues in the center of her bedroom, eyes locked with one another, the occasional lip muscle twitching in the silence. Anna waited for Hans to make the next move, more than conscious of the fact that his next words could very well be along the lines of "that could be arranged."

Suddenly he smirked.

Giving her a nod so slight Anna thought might've imagined it, he turned and took his leave. As her bedroom door swung shut behind him, its hollow thud echoed disconcertingly, dropping like a stone against the ripples of dread in her chest.

* * *

**A/N: Phew! I think that's one of the longest dialogue-only scenes I've ever written, but I think the build-up justified it. From here on out, it's turtles Hans/Anna all the way down. Well, dark!Hans/Anna, but hey. I'm a villain shipper for a reason.**

**Unfortunately the end of Act Three does mean the end of my regularly scheduled chapters. I will come back with Act Four once I finish the next draft of the original novel I'm writing (tentatively planned for early February?). Until then, I'll be posting small snippets of original notes, timelines, Hans' brother character sheets, etc over at my tumblr.**

**Thanks to everyone for being such awesome readers!**


	26. Act Four: Part One

**A/N: My original stuff's going a bit slower than expected, but I promised you guys a chapter near the beginning of February so here it is. I'll do monthly updates until I finish up what I wanted to, and then switch to biweekly updates after that.**

**Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

The bedsheets were slick beneath Anna's sweating palms. She swallowed nervously, screaming at herself not to look down. One loose grip and that'd be it. Hans would be cleaning her remains off the castle flagstones.

Which, she realized grimly, _still_ wasn't the worst possible fate in the world for her now.

Her feet scrambled for purchase on the wall as she lowered herself at an agonizingly glacial pace. Someone was going to see her. Someone was going to stop her. Someone was—

She reached the bottom, the ground cold and damp beneath the thin soles of her slippers. Anna wanted boots, had asked her silent maids for them every day since she'd arrived, but apparently they'd been deemed unnecessary and therefore hadn't been provided.

Her new life in a nutshell.

The makeshift rope trailed from the third floor window of her bedroom, hanging in stark contrast against the castle's dark stone, a sad, limp arrow pointing straight towards her. It wouldn't be long before someone noticed her escape. Anna forced herself to keep moving.

The kitchen and servants wings were to her left. Anna pressed herself behind the row of bushes that lined the castle's inner walls and scurried past, pausing whenever she caught a glimpse of movement, a snatch of conversation. She needed to get to the stables. She'd studied them from her room, had studied the whole castle, counting each horse that had trotted in and out, coming and going as they pleased between her prison and the rest of the world. Anna just needed to make it there, steal a horse, gallop to the edge of the forest visible from her window, lose herself in the maze beneath its branches, and then…

Well, for now she'd make herself focus on step one.

The stables were a collection of five seperate buildings. Anna crouched hidden by the entrance of the nearest one. Two stablehands chatted inside. She waited for them leave, the early March mud sinking into her slippers and soaked her socks. She shifted on the balls of her feet, wincing at the sound of the resulting squelches. At last the stablehands moved onto another building and she seized her chance.

There were twenty horses between this roof, ten stalls on each side. Anna decided on a grey gelding next to the outside doors. If the stablehands returned, there'd only be a few short feet between her and freedom. A short beam of wood held the doors shut, liftable, even for her. Anna didn't bother trying to find the gelding's saddle, barely allowed herself the time to grab its bridle from a peg at the front of the stall and slip it over its head. Running her hand down its nose to reassure it—to reassure herself, Anna led it slowly out of its stall. The stable was still blessedly empty as she wound the gelding's reins around one hand and began to push up on the beam. The final barrier.

"Here, let me help you with that." A pair of gloved hands joined Anna's own.

Her blood turned to ice. She jumped and spun, feet stumbling back until she was pressed against the gelding's side.

Hans easily lifted the beam and used it to poke open the doors. He flipped it vertically, resting one end on the ground and his chin on the other. He smirked at her.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked, nodding sideways at the open doors. "It's what you wanted, isn't it?"

Anna stared at the budding field lying just beyond the castle's outer walls. The snows had melted two days ago, leaving an expanse of mottled browns and greens. It stretched out for over a mile, ending at the dark line of the forest that'd been her goal. Still _was_ her goal.

It hurt to look at. Her chest felt too small for her breaths, her heart sliced and weak.

Hans had been watching her entire escape attempt, had let her burn her energy on total uselessness. Running now would do nothing. It'd just twist the forest into yet _another_ one of his playgrounds, corrupting the little hope she had left.

She suck in a furious breath and shoved the gelding's reins at Hans' chest. The only admission of surrender she'd ever give.

He looked down at them in confusion. "_I_ wasn't the one to put them on."

Anna kept her fist extended. Her whole arm began to tremble with a combination of the physical effort of keeping it lifted and her simmering rage, and then she whirled back around towards the gelding's stall, accidentally yanking the horse with her. It whinnied in pain.

Anna flinched.

She coaxed the horse towards her, whispering breathy apologizes too soft for Hans to hear as she stroked its muzzle. Her silence was the only weapon she had left. The only anything she had left. It annoyed Hans, which was enough to kept her going as she waited for Elsa to come and rescue her and defeat Hans once and for all.

Anna removed the gelding's bridle as slowly as possible, hoping Hans would run out of patience and leave before she sidled out of its stall.

He hadn't.

"Giving up so easily?" he asked. There was an infuriating twinge of disappointment in his voice. "And after all that fine knot-work with the bedsheets… Tell you what. Start running now and I'll give you an hour's head start. That should more than enough time for you to reach that forest of yours, which is where you were headed, wasn't it?"

Anna breathed in and out, letting Hans' words wash over her. Or at least she tried to. They snagged at her like a bramble thicket that refused to die, no matter how much it got cut back year after year.

"No? Well, alls the pity. Maybe another day." He nodded at the doors and they swung shut themselves with a thud that echoed dully in Anna's chest. He dropped the beam back into place and then held out his arm to her. "Shall we?"

Anna stared at it blankly. Her brain could only hold so much anger, and she'd run out of the amount allotted towards his patronizing attempts at seeming a cordial host instead of the moralless kidnapper he was.

Clasping her hands in front of her, Anna turned silently and began the humiliating trudge up back to her room. Hans followed beside her, a sickening, unshakable presence that scratched at the insides of her skin. She fantasized about punching him, clawing at him with nails and teeth and anything else she could sink into his flawlessly smooth skin.

And then he'd just laugh at her. He'd probably even enjoy it.

So she didn't.

"Seas are starting to clear up," Hans said as they re-entered the castle proper.

Anna looked down. Her slippers were completely caked in mud and the hem of her dress didn't look much better. She wanted to make detours over each and every rug, perhaps kick up and leave prints on some of the tapestries, but even that would be a hollow act of defiance. Hans wasn't the one who scrubbed and cleaned, who'd be forced to endure the extra work.

"Had a ship come in from Arendelle yesterday," he continued. Anna stiffened, and he smiled. "Reserves are still low from that siege of yours." As always, he avoided blame. "They've asked for grains and wheat from the Southern Kingdoms, which is to say, from me."

Anna forced herself to keep her head straight, to keep one foot following the other.

"The question is: do I agree to their request?" His voice was light, like he was pondering over which color roses to plant in a garden instead of the fate of an entire kingdom. "We have more than enough stockpiled, and it'd be such an awful waste if people died when there was enough to go around. However…" Anna's stomach dropped at the way he drawled the word. "They _are_ responsible for the deaths of more than a hundred of my men. They cost us time and resources and there does come a point where a good king can't afford to be merciful to everyone. Examples, on occasion, have to be made." His eyes flickered over to Anna. "What do you think?"

Her jaw tightened.

It was just a trick. Just another one of his plans to get her to cave and finally speak. He didn't care what she'd say, wouldn't listen to her despite asking for her advice. He'd probably wait for her to beg and then go ahead and starve her people anyway. It was all a lie. Every word that dripped from his mouth was a lie.

Hans baited her all the way to her room. Anna focused on keeping her breathing steady throughout, not gracing him with a single response, verbal or otherwise. It was only after he stepped back and the door clicked shut behind her that Anna took a shuddering gasp and sank to the floor.

The sheets had been untied and returned to her four poster bed, tucked in with a tight, mechanical precision. Her window was closed again. Pushing herself up, Anna tried its latch. It swung open effortlessly beneath her fingertips. The fact that Hans hadn't bothered to lock it, told her just how much he viewed her as a possible threat: not at all.

Anna slammed the window shut and flopped down onto the silken bed of her prison. She crossed her arms and waited. She had no books. No yarn. No nothing. Of course, Hans had claimed it wasn't a prison, that she was free to go anywhere in the castle or even Weideland itself provided he was at her side to "escort" her.

Fat chance of that.

Anna began counting the stitches in her bed's canopy. Around stitch number three hundred and forty two, she felt herself nodding off. The shadows lengthened as she fell in and out of sleep, the colors leeching from her elegantly furnished room but otherwise sparse room. They'd muddled into a sort of slate grey when a maid arrived with dinner.

"Crust of bread and salted jerky again, huh?" Anna joked weakly from the bed. "My favorite."

The maid glanced at her, eyes white and face drawn into a thin line, before putting it on her desk and leaving just as silently as she'd entered. Anna stared at the closed door, stared at the sharply divided portions of food. Next to it rested a single cup of water.

The message there was as plain as it'd been for the past week, as it'd been since Hans had first invited her to have dinner with him—play nice with her captor and she'd get rewarded. With food of all things. Like she was nothing more than a rabid, untamed dog.

And by taming her, he'd tame her kingdom.

Anna swallowed, her heart thudding with a dull ache as she thought of Arendelle, of Elsa and Kristoff and wherever the hell they could be in the world at that moment. She had to stay strong for them. Above all else, she had to believe that they were still free and working on finding some way to defeat Hans.

If they weren't…

Anna pushed away her doubts, forced herself over to her desk, and tore into the crust of bread.

* * *

Her resolution to stay in her room for the entire length of her captivity held one more week. Anna was steadily going crazy; whenever she looked at the filigreed wall clock, she was a single step away from crying, from screaming… At any rate, she was definitely doing more damage to herself than to Hans. She'd thought herself prepared by virtue of growing up sequestered and alone in Arendelle's palace. A small part of her had even welcomed the challenge, the chance to show Hans just who he was up against.

Turned out there was a difference between being trapped somewhere with enough toys and games to follow her to the afterlife and being trapped somewhere with _literally nothing_.

Go figure.

Anna waited her clock neared three in the morning before slipping out into the dark, empty hallway. Hans had offered her a tour of the castle when she'd first arrived. She had, obviously, declined it with a steely glare, which meant she was relying on four-year-old memories to find the castle's library. Memories from when the Kingdom of Weideland hadn't been anything more than a stepping stone in the bridge leading her towards the source of the summer blizzard. The bridge that had led her straight _to_ the source without her even realizing, being the stupid idiot that she'd been.

Still was.

Anna continuously glanced over her shoulder for signs of Hans as she made her way through the empty castle. If he'd been watching her last escape attempt, surely he'd be watching now. Somehow. From somewhere. She was going against his orders, again, but since he hadn't dragged her down to the Weideland dungeons and/or killed her by now, Anna didn't see _too_ much risk in it.

Worst case scenario, Hans stopped her from going to the library. Anna went back to her room just as bored as she'd been for the last two weeks.

More likely scenario, Hans showed up and followed her to the library, trying to push her into talking the entire time, and then followed her back. Anna would be okay with that. She'd have a stack of books at the end, which was all she cared about at the moment.

Eventually Anna found the large, double doors and pushed them open. Shafts of light fell across the library's wooden floor, the full moon visible through a pair of fifteen foot windows on her left. It was better than the hallway she'd just come from in terms of being able to see instead of _feel_ her way across, but not enough to make out any of the book titles.

Anna was forced to grab a couple at random from each shelf and carry them to the windows for better light. She put back the boring ones and kept the novels and foreign histories, repeating the process several times until she had a stack as high as she could carry, and then scurried away to the relative safety her room. Using her foot, she pushed down and forward on her door latch and then kicked it shut behind her. She clutched her book tower close to her chest, heart racing.

Hans knew. He had to.

Anna braced herself, waiting for the inevitable knock. She waited for Hans to burst in, seize all the books, and cart them straight back to the library.

The clock ticked on, the only punctuation in the night's stillness.

Because Hans never entered her room. He never knocked. Never did anything to try and force her to come out.

Even when he had followed her back from the stables, he'd stopped a good two feet from her door. He'd let her take the final steps by herself, locking herself back into her cage. Anna didn't know whether to find her small sliver of sanctuary comforting or insulting. Most days it was a mixture of both. After all, it wasn't that Hans _couldn't_ enter her room, he was just choosing not to at the moment, and she didn't let herself forget that those rules could change at any minute.

Anna shivered at the thought.

She switched her attention to her new collection of books. Grabbing the first one off the top, Anna shoved the others under her bed, unsure what the maids would do if they found them lying about in the open. She lit the small lamp on her bedside table and then leaned back, cracking open the first page of a battered old history on Walonian buccaneers

* * *

The books lasted her a grand total of eight days. Anna forced herself to return to the beginning of the stack and start over and reread them all again. That carried her through another five. On the third pass, her eyes began glazing over entire lines, then entire pages.

She needed fresh material.

Anna didn't bother bringing the old books back with her when she made her second venture to the library. If Hans got annoyed by her eventual stockpile, he was free to order one of the ever silent maids to take them.

The full moon had been swallowed up into the rest of the dark night sky since Anna's last visit, making it even harder to pick out the titles. She squatted next to a shelf, squinting as she ran her fingers over the covers, hoping to feel out the edges of the letters. Weirdly enough, the technique worked. Was slow as hell though…

"You're going to ruin your eyes like that."

Anna stiffened.

She'd been expecting the voice. Dreading it. A small part of her was glad he'd finally shown himself—if he was going to be spying on her either way, Anna'd preferred knowing where he was standing when he did it.

Anna turned around and clutched the book she'd been trying to decipher to her chest like a shield. Hans rolled his eyes, the movement barely visible in the darkness but exaggerated by the excruciatingly familiar head tilt that accompanied it.

"Don't be so worried. I'm not mad at you."

Anna almost snapped that she wasn't worried in the slightest, that she didn't give a reindeer's ass about _anything_ he thought, but managed to bite her lips closed. Keeping her mouth in a firm line, she went back to the bookshelf. Now that she was aware of his presence, it prickled at the back of her neck. Anna debated the pros and cons of scooping out the entire shelf closest to her and booking it. Sure, there'd be duds in the stack, but there'd _have_ to be good ones too.

Probably.

Maybe.

Anna continued her half blind search. She flinched when a sudden light flared into existence on her right, burning her eyes for a second before she blinked them into adjustment. She glanced over, expecting to see Hans hovering at her side with a freshly lit candle, and froze.

The flame he held hovered directly over his own, ungloved palm. She stared at it, then at him. He smiled back without a hint of teeth, mirroring her silence.

Anna breathed in and out. Just another one of his show-off tricks meant to unnerve her. She moved over to the next shelf.

He followed.

The light did, admittedly, make it easier to see. It frustrated her that it did, and for a good minute she crossed her eyes, letting the titles blur back into oblivion. Anna didn't _want_ his help. She wanted to push him away, to punch him, to—

Anna swallowed with a painful shudder.

What were the words Elsa had always lived by—congeal don't feel? Reseal? Something like that anyway. She needed to be ice. She needed to layer herself with barrier after barrier until she became more statue than human. Which shouldn't have been too hard. After all, Anna'd been both ice _and_ a statue before; she just had to figure out how to do it again. Preferably a bit more metaphorically this time.

Somewhere along the fourth shelf, an idea popped into her head.

If Hans really insisted on trailing her every step, Anna would make it as painfully boring as she could. Her pace slowed. She crouched down, waiting for Hans to follow before standing back up, only to change her mind and crouch back down again. She wandered back and forth between new shelves and ones she'd already visited half a dozen times, not so much searching for new content anymore letting her feet trace a dance over the library floor.

Every so often, Anna made sure to pass the grandfather clock in the east corner of the room so she could get a quick glance at its face. The hour hand slowly crawled down its right side. Anna stifled a yawn, wondering if she'd be able to make it until dawn—

"Just so you know, the only one you're wearing out is you," Hans suddenly said beside her. "I don't need to sleep anymore."

Anna froze, one hand covering her mouth, the other gripped halfway around the spine of a book. Her eyes were wide. She shut them as heat flushed behind her cheeks, tears threatening to leak past.

She wasn't going to cry.

She wasn't going to cry.

She wasn't—

Anna pretended to finish her yawn and took the book from the shelf like nothing had changed. She looked at its title: Adventures in Bookkeeping for the Modern Farmstead. Great. She glanced over at Hans. He was gently smiling, as he had been the whole night, a mask that made his face entirely unreadable.

Shoving the accounting book right back where she'd found it, Anna moved on. She didn't rush herself in her embarrassment, but didn't draw out her task anymore either. It took her ten minutes to gather up a new book stack to last her another two weeks, perhaps a full month if she forced herself to read very, very slowly… or alternated her reading with counting fabric stitches again.

Hans stopped her at the library doors.

Anna's heart jumped. She curled her free arm protectively around her wobbling tower of books in case he tried to grab at them.

Flame still alive and dancing in his left hand, he flourished a sudden book out from behind his back with his right. "You should read this one too," he told her. "One of my favorites growing up." He reached forward to place it on the top of her stack.

Anna snapped.

She smacked the book out of his hand, relishing the sting of her knuckles colliding against his own.

The book hit the floor with a thud. Hans looked down at it, blinking in apparent shock. Then he tilted his head back and laughed, the sound full and rich.

Anna's cheeks burned, furious at herself for losing control, furious at _him_ for destroying everything she held dear in the first place.

"I take it that's a 'no thanks.'" He bent down and retrieved the book, his bare fingers long and pale against its dark green cover. "Maybe next time then."

Hans pushed open the library doors for Anna and thankfully remained there, holding them, as she strode out into the hall. The sky outside the castle windows was beginning to purple. Lack of sleep tugged down at her eyes. Halfway up one of the staircases, Anna lost control of her book tower. She bit back a stream of curses as they went scattering down the steps. She waited for a couple, silent seconds, then hiked back the skirts of her dress and went to work collecting them before Hans popped up to offer anymore of his oh-so-gracious _help_.

Next time, he'd said.

Anna didn't want there to be a next time. She hadn't even wanted there to have been a _this_ time.

She finished reassembling her tower and carefully made her way forward again, eyes continuously glancing between books and carpeted step.

Books were good, but she could only carry so many at a time. They only lasted so long. She needed to start diversifying. And if Hans really wanted to play at being the gracious host, then she'd just have to use that graciousness and cram her room full of whatever it'd bring her until she never, never, _ever_ had to come out and see his stupid face again.


	27. Act Four: Part Two

"Back again so soon?"

Apparently Hans had a ridiculously liberal definition of 'soon.' For three full weeks, Anna had stretched her previous supply of books to their limit, and yet there he stood in the center of the library, hands clasped loosely behind his back like she'd only been gone a matter of hours.

This time, however, she'd come prepared. When Hans met her at a shelf, she pushed a scrap of paper into his hands. He frowned at it as she crouched down, running her fingers over the tops of each book she considered taking.

Hans snorted. "Really?" he said, holding up the paper. "You won't talk to me, so you've resorted to _notes_? Rather petty, don't you think?"

Anna bit her tongue against demanding who was the _real_ petty one—the one writing notes or the one who'd locked the other up in a giant prison castle?

Hans made tsk-tsking noises against the back of his teeth as he reread her written requests. "Paint, brushes, canvas, ink, quills, paper, scissors, yarn, needles, thread… Are you sure this is a list of stuff you actually want and not just a spy catalog of the town crafthouses?"

Anna kept her eyes on the books. Of course he mocked the note. She'd known giving it to him was a risk, known that he wouldn't—

"Fine," Hans said. "I'll get you… well, everything but the scissors. Alright?"

Anna blinked at him. He wasn't supposed to have agreed so easily.

There must've been a catch. There was always a catch.

But as she continued to stare at him, all he did was sigh. "What?" he said. "I'm not going to run and get them right _now_. Although, if you wanted to, perhaps, follow up my kind gesture with a polite 'thank you,' I'd be more than happy to hear that."

Anna scowled.

Right. As if Hans really expected her to thank him for _anything_ during her stay here—her temporary stay, she hopefully reminded herself.

And so, Anna did her best to ignore him during the rest of her time in the library, eventually leaving with a new ten-book tower. The next morning, four tidy stacks had been placed against the wall outside her room with everything she'd asked for.

Minus the scissors.

* * *

Despite the possibility of hidden catches, Anna was glad she'd asked for the art supplies. They prolonged the lives of her books, stretching out the library runs she had to do even further. She stayed in her room for more than a month at a time without getting bored.

Well, not really.

Because that was the thing with boredom, the thing that Anna was quickly remembering from her secluded childhood. Boredom, in its natural chronic state, was like a bad stench—the smell itself never went away, the nose just stopped noticing it. The nose stopped noticing it because if the nose _kept_ noticing it, the brain would be driven mad. But at the same time, the nose wasn't perfect. Every so often small, foul whiffs leaked through. Every so often the whole body inevitability, painfully remembered.

So Anna still got bored. She still wanted to, on occasion, punch her bedroom walls and trigger an earthquake and bring the whole castle down around her.

But she didn't.

Because she couldn't.

Instead, Anna made herself a calendar with one of the sheets of paper she'd been given. One month passed. Two months passed. An unhealthy amount of time was spent staring out her window, trying to pick out small people-sized blurs beyond the castle walls. At first Anna pretended the blurs were Elsa and Kristoff, only miles away, only _hours_ away from rescuing her. After awhile those fantasies ran dry and she stared at the blurs in the same way a cat tracked the glint of light from a mirror—an entertaining division but ultimately meaningless.

She tried two more escape attempts. Failed both.

The weeks grew slowly warmer. Flowers bloomed. Their sweet scents briefly called to her, only to die off beneath the rippling heat of summer.

Anna was twelve-hours into stitching a landscape of Arendelle from memory, lying against a wall of pillows with the wooden frame against her lap, when a faint flute melody caught her attention. She jabbed her needle the top-right corner of the linen and carried it with her to the window. The town was visible in the distance. Tents had been set up in the field adjacent the castle, making a ring. In its center people were dancing, feasting…

The summer solstice.

The realization hit Anna straight in the gut. She'd been here four months. Four months with nothing to show for it but a stupid embroidered, fake copy of home.

The canvas trembled in her grip.

Elsa would have escaped ages ago. Even if she hadn't, she wouldn't have sat around stitching neatly away like the perfect captive princess Anna apparently was. Nothing but useless, useless, _useless_—

Anna screamed in rage, hurling the embroidery at the wall. Its frame split apart with a large crack.

Not satisfying enough.

Anna swept her hands through the book piles on her desk, knocking them to the floor. She opened paint jars, flung their contents at the walls. She grabbed her sheets and ripped—

—tried to rip—

—tried a combination of biting and ripping—

Anna sunk to the floor, the undamaged sheet clutched in her shaking hands. She stayed there, listening to the sounds of the festivities bleed through her window as the sun slowly slipped down the western half of the sky.

Her door creaked open—the usual maid bringing dinner. Anna watched her as she took in the obvious destruction. Then the maid spun on her heel, slamming the door behind her.

The maid had forgotten to leave the food. Anna supposed that was fine, since she wouldn't have eaten it anyway.

The sun continued to sink. Even after the world was plunged back into darkness, the celebrations went on and on. Probably would until morning, Anna suddenly realized. Summer solstice celebrations tended to do that.

She pushed herself up off the floor, leaving the sheet in its sad crumpled heap. She opened her door and trudged forward into the dark castle. She didn't know where she was going, instead letting her feet decide the directions.

Left, left, right, down a flight of stairs, left…

At a pair of large double doors, she stopped.

The library.

Of course. It was the only place she knew how to get to in the castle, she thought glumly. Why would she have _ever_ expected her feet to take her any place else?

Hans was waiting inside as usual. But instead of starting the evening off with a cutting remark, he kept silent. Anna stayed at the library entrance, her paint-stained hands twisting together at the front of her dress as she watched him watch her.

He _had_ know about her breakdown. Anna couldn't imagine the maid keeping it a secret. She debated running back to her broken room. A broken princess in a broken room with a broken—

She cracked.

"How long are you going to keep me like this?" Anna's voice was small and hoarse from months of disuse.

Hans smiled. "Like what?" he asked bemusedly, as if those somehow hadn't been the first words she'd said to him since Arendelle.

"In here. Trapped. With you."

"You know you're not trapped." He remained motionless in the center of the room, as if expecting it to revolve around him if he just stayed there long enough. "You can go outside whenever you want to."

Anna snorted. They both knew how untrue that was, even if Hans would never admit it. But she didn't rise to the bait. Breaking her silence had been bad enough, she didn't want to tarnish herself further with a battle over semantics.

"In fact," Hans continued, "the summer festival—"

"Not interested."

"Very well. The seaside gardens?"

"Also, not interested. And," she added quickly as he re-opened his mouth, "not that next thing you were about to suggest either. Look, I really don't want to talk about this."

Hans crossed his arms, letting a small smile play over his face. "Fine. Then what _do_ you want to talk about?"

Nothing.

Everything.

Well, everything… just not with _him_. But Anna couldn't say that because obviously _that_ wasn't an option. Or was it?

"Why don't any of the servants talk to me?" she asked bluntly.

Hans' smile widened.

"Because if you had _them_ to talk to, you wouldn't be here right now, talking to _me_."

His words hit her like a bucket of fjord-cold water. Her hands trembled, curling up into fists.

Then she spun on her heels and stormed out of the library.

It was all her fault. She should've never opened her mouth, she should've never let a single sound escape past her lips. Her one remaining weapon… gone in a single finger snap.

Anna finally slowed at an intersection on the third floor. On her left was a long portrait gallery. Dead Weideland king after dead Weideland king lined its walls. They stared at each other, passing endless judgement upon themselves.

She shivered.

Breaking her vow of silence hadn't gotten her anywhere today… but, then again, keeping it hadn't gotten her anywhere either. She was wasting time sitting around for Elsa to rescue her. She was wasting time dreaming of the ten thousand escape methods she'd manage if only she'd had Elsa's powers.

She was wasting time because Elsa was Elsa.

Anna was Anna.

Just Anna.

And that was okay.

Well, it would _have_ to be okay, because if Anna ever expected to rescue herself, she had to stop thinking like Elsa. She'd never manage to escape with physical strength alone. Of course, Anna wasn't exactly sure she had the skill-set to escape via her mental stengths either…

But she had to try.

* * *

Anna waited until she'd scarfed down her next day's lunch—the now usual bread, salted meat and single fruit, just enough variety to stave off malnutrition—to shovel up the pathetic embers of her remaining courage.

She left her room. Occasionally she asked a passing servant for directions. Although they still refused (were banned) from speaking to her, they silently pointed her down the hallways that she needed to go. Eventually she was deposited outside a plain looking door in the south wing of the castle.

Anna raised her fist, ready to knock, but her wrist froze on her, refusing to go through with the rest of the motion. She'd spent the whole morning preparing, but the way her stomach was twisting over itself seemed to suggest otherwise. Cursing herself, Anna gripped her wrist with her other hand and forced herself to knock. The wood swallowed the sound, leaving the air unsettlingly still.

"Come in," Hans said from the other side.

Anna inhaled deeply and entered.

Hans didn't seem surprised to see her coming to him for once. In fact, he didn't even look up from the paper-covered desk in the center of what Anna realized had to be his office. It was expansive, twice as large as Elsa's office back home and four times bigger than anything Anna ever had back during her working time in Corona, but it still had the illusion of being tight and cramped, probably thanks to the thirty-some packed bookshelves that smothered its walls. Anna's eyes lingered across some of the larger titles: _Modern Methods in Taxation, New Revised Standard Edition_; _The Comprehensive Theory of Goods, Trade and Capital_; _Property Rights in the Age of_—

"Can I help you with something?"

Anna jumped.

Right. Hans. He still hadn't looked up from his desk or the documents on it. She needed to stick to her plan.

Anna swallowed. "You should send me back to Arendelle," she said, the words jumbling against her tongue. "It'd be in your best interest."

"Oh," Hans said. He paused, quill tip hovering along a paragraph. "And why's that?"

"I'm ready to be your mouthpiece." The lie stuck a bit as she tried to cram it out. "I'm ready to tell the people of Arendelle about what a _great_ ruler you are."

"Hmmm… and why this sudden change of heart?"

"Call it a sudden epiphany."

"Right."

"It'd solidify your claim," Anna ventured. "Things can't be steady there with both me and Elsa gone."

"Really." He glanced up briefly. "And you know the current state of Arendelle affairs… how?"

"I— uh… I feel them in my heart?"

Anna winced as soon as the words tumbled out. Could she have said _anything_ more idiotic?

Hans snorted. "Well, while I appreciate the attempt at entertainment, I'm actually somewhat busy at the minute. Perhaps you could tell me your joke routine another time."

Anna stared at him. "You," she said skeptically. "Busy."

Hans pushed his chair back from his desk and gestured at the stacks of paperwork on his desk. An invitation.

Anna lingered by the door, trying to sniff out a possible trap, then stepped forward. As she got close enough to read the fine text printed across each document, she realized they were all pages after pages of trade information, trade policy, trade records. Anna shifted a few to the side; beneath were even _more_ papers filled with endless numerical tables of imports and exports and losses and gains. The sheer hours of math that must've gone into the records made Anna's head hurt just looking at them.

She turned to Hans.

"Why are you working on these?" she asked blankly.

"I'm the king. Shouldn't a king be involved in the ruling of his kingdoms."

"Obviously, but you—" Anna stared at Hans. He stared back. She struggled to line up her thoughts in order. "You don't _have_ to do this. I mean, no one _wants_ to do this."

"You mean just because _you_ wouldn't want to do it, no one else would."

"No, that's not what I—" This wasn't what Anna had come here to talk about, but she couldn't stop herself. She grabbed the nearest sheet and shoved it in his face. "You stole this kingdom, Hans. You stole all these kingdoms. People who steal kingdoms don't care about the stressful day-to-day things. They hire minions! They let the crops rot in the field! They raise taxes! They— They…"

Hans lifted an eyebrow. "Do you _want_ me to hire minions and let the crops rot in the fields?"

"No! I mean, kind of? I mean…" Anna returned the paper to the desk, slumping against it, shoulders hunched. "I just don't get it. If you actually care about doing things right, if you care about, well, just _things_, then why are you so… so…"

"So…?"

"Evil," Anna finished, the word wrenching out what little energy she'd had left.

Hans laced his fingers and stared at the papers on his desk. He stayed silent for a long time.

"Because the universe never gave me the chance to be anything else I suppose," he finally said.

Anna let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, it's the universe's fault, is it?"

"No," he remarked casually. "You're putting words in my mouth again. I fully accept that all of my choices are my own. I embrace it. It's more…" His eyes were dark and hooded. "Imagine a wall in life, stretching across the world. Some people are born sitting on top, the privileged few. My brother Philipp. Your sister Elsa. Others attempt to climb it. Sometimes they make it all the way up, but most of the time they tire out along the way. And then there's the vast majority. While they often daydream by looking up, they mostly content themselves with wallowing in its shadows."

"I take it you're one of the successful climbers?"

"No." Hans turned the full weight of his gaze on Anna. "I decided a long time ago that I'd be the one to destroy the wall completely."

A chill dripped its way down her spine. She couldn't move. And then Hans smiled again and the spell broke.

"Now," he said, "if you're interested in helping me run the kingdom, I'm always more than open to hearing your advice. If not, then I'm sorry, but I have fifty pages to review and send back to the financial minister by dinner."

Anna felt herself nodding along before she could stop herself. She suddenly felt too awkward beneath her skin, too balanced on some razor's edge she didn't quite understand. She stumbled backwards from his desk, sending a few pages fluttering to the floor. She didn't bother to pick them up.

She watched Hans as he moved his chair back against his desk, and then she turned and fled.


End file.
